\ 


THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 


FOUNDED  ON  THE 


NATURAL  AND  INALIENABLE  EIGHTS  OF  MAN. 


AND  CONTAINING 

THE    OUTLINES    OF    SUCH    A    GOVERNMENT    AS 
THE    PATRIOT     FATHERS    CONTEMPLATED 
AND  FORMULATED  IN  THE  DECLARA- 
TION OF  INDEPENDENCE,  "WHEN 
STRUGGLING  FOR  LIBERTY. 


E.    J.    SCHELLHOUS,    M.   D. 


"  The  true  Kepublic  Is  not  yet  here.  But  the  birth-struggle  must  soon 
"begin.  Already,  with  the  hope  of  her,  men's  thoughts  are  stirring."— 
Henrt  George. 


SAN   FRANCISCO: 
BACON  &  COMPANY,   PRINTERS, 

No.  508  CLAY  Street. 
1883. 


Copyright,  1883, 

By  E.  J.  SCHELLHOUS. 


o  / 


en 


cm 


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s 


i:^. 


PRESS  NOTICES. 


» 

Permit  me  to  say  that  I  pronounce  "The  New  Republic  " 

a  superior  work  on  the  subject  of  wliich  it  treats,  both  in  its 

--     arrangements  and   the  subject  matter   jiresented — Geo.  T. 


•«£      Elliot. 


The  work  of  Dr.  Schellhous  will  rank  with  Henry 
George's  ''Progress  and  Poverty."  *  *  *  "The  New 
Republic  "  is  a  school-book  for  the  people,— a  popular  educat- 
or for  the  American  voter,— the  problems  in  which  must  be 
understood  before  the  New  Republic  which  he  foreshadows 
can  be  an  accomplished  fact. — E.  M.  Dewev,  in  Tulare 
County  Journal. 

I  would  advise  all  advocates  of  the  liberation  of  man- 
kind to  read  "The  New  Republic,"  by  Dr.  Schellhous,  as  he 
is  an  honest  expounder  of  Truth  and  Justice. — The  Tocsin, 
Dallas,  Texas. 

"The  New  Republic,"  Schelllious.— This  is  one  of  the 
few  works  of  reform  writers  of  the  last  few  years  wliich  can 
be  said  to  be  at  once  forcible  and  scholarly. 


28G115 


Many  have  been  the  former,  and  liave  accomplished  a 
great  work,  as  iron  is  beaten  into  rude  shapes  by  hard  blows; 
but  a  few  only  have  been  sufficiently  skilled  to  polish  the 
works  which  they  had  hammered  out  into  really  symmetri- 
cal forms. 

The  author  of  "The  New  Republic"  has  done  this.— The 
SatKrdai/  Express,  Chicago. 

I  pronounce  "  The  New  Republic"  a  masterly  book,  afar- 
reaching  work,  pictured  in  plain,  simple  English.  I  shall 
loan  it  to  my  friends  to  read,  for  I  would  that  every  man  in 
our  fair  country  would  read  it;  then  we  would  surely  see 
better  times. — W.  D.  Young. 

The  most  I  can  do  is  to  assert  that  no  true  reform  library 
will  be  complete  without  "The  New  Republic."  Prolific 
as  California  has  been  in  ideas,  the  indisputable  truths- 
ideas— put  forth  in  "The  New  Republic"  are  the  peers  of 
the  brightest  and  best. — Geo.  C.  Beecher. 

"The  New  Republic  "  is  received  and  reviewed.  When 
placed  before  the  American  people,  they  must  be  greatly 
benefited  by  its  teachings.  I  truly  congratulate  you  on  its 
production.  I  think  the  book  is  opportune  :  is  in  the  right 
time  and  place  to  fill  a  much  needed  want  in  American  poli- 
tics. Its  principles  will  be  teachers  when  the  hand  that  pen- 
ned them  is  dust. — Anna  D.  Weaver. 

I  have  not  yet  read  thoroughly  "  Tlie  New  Republic"; 
it  has  been  loaned  nearly  all  the  time  since  its  receipt.     But 


\ 


I 


those  who  have  read  it,  and  in  whose  judgment  I  have  great 
confidence,  say  that  I  need  have  no  fears  in  recommending 
it ;  that  it  will  do  good  wherever  it  goes.— Celia  B.  White- 
head. 

Your  book  to  hand  and  read.    I  like  it  very  much  and 
think  it  excellent.  I  think  it  equals  Henry  George's  "Progress 
and   Poverty."    I  hope  many  may  read  it.       *      *      « 
Your  chapter  on  Tariff  is  especially  good,  the  best  I  have 
ever  seen  on  the  question.— Hon.  L.  B.  Keating. 

"The  New  Republic"  is  anti-monopoly  from  beginning  to 
end,  and  will  find  little  favor  from  politicians  and  monopo- 
lists. The  author  attacks  corporate  power  in  all  its  hydra- 
forms,  nor  leaves  a  single  niche  in  our  liberty  temple  on 
which  to  place  its  feet. 

Finance  and  Tariff  are  also  subjects  for  the  author's 
trenchant  pen.    Nor  does  he  handle  them  with  gloved  hands. 

While  the  author  tears  down  with  vandal  hands,  he 
unhesitatingly  lays  plans  for  another  edifice,  for  he  would 
have  a  New  Republic,  phoenix  like,  to  rise  from  the  ashes  of 
the  old.— S.  H.  Bond,  in  Tulare  Times. 

I  want  to  say,  "  The  New  Republic  "  is  by  far  the  ablest 
work  I  have  read  on  the  subject.  It  should  be  introduced 
into  our  schools  as  a  text  book.  It  is  truly  multum  in  parvo, 
and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  man  and  woman  in  the 
land.  *  *  It  is  admirably  adapted  to  meet  the  views  of  the 
average  citizen,  and  all  labor  organizations  should  have  it  in 
their  library  .—Samuel  Sinnett  in  the  lorva  National  Advocate. 


"  The  New  Republic  "  is  a  most  excellent  work.  It  fills  a 
place  in  political  reform  not  supplied  by  any  other  book.— H. 

A.  COFFEEN. 

Let  me  say  that  your  work  is  taking  as  I  have  seen  no 
other  effort  in  this  direction.  My  reform  associates  declare 
that  the  nltimatiim  of  reform  is  therewith  presented,  and  that 
your  effort  has  resulted  in  reducing  the  whole  question  at  is- 
sue to  an  exact  scientific  base  that  must  serve  as  a  competent 
guide  in  the  reform  movement  for  the  future. — L.  A.  Fisher. 

Mnch  that  the  author  of  "The  New  Republic"  says  in 
part  cannot  be  controverted,  it  must  be  believed. — Daily  lie- 
port,  San  Francisco. 

Of  Dr.  Schellhous,  Helen  "Wilmans,  editor  of  the  Wom- 
an's World  department  of  The  Saturday  Express, saya  :  "I 
know  him  well.  He  is  a  man  of  deep  learning  and  scholarly 
attainments.  I  am  pleased  to  know  that  he  has  written  a 
work  of  the  kind.  It  could  not  be  other  than  valuable,  com- 
ing from  his  pen." 

We  have  an  unlimited  conviction  that  Dr.  Schellhous  ad- 
vocates a  system  of  Truth  that  the  world  needs,  and  must 
have,  in  order  to  prevent  its  relapse  into  the  old-time  barba- 
rism of  selfishness  and  tyranny. — Tulare  Times. 


OONTEj^TS 


PAGE. 

To  THE  Reader 5 

The  Presentment 11 

CHAP. 

I.     Definitions 15 

n.     Outlines  of  the  New  Republic 25 

in.     A  Brief  Review  of  the  Struggle  for 

Liberty 33 

rV.     History  of  the  Federal  Constitution, 
AND  AN  Account  of  the  Leading  Men 
WHO  Advocated  and  who  Opposed  It    39 
V.     The  Articles  of  Confederation  and  the 

Federal  Constitution 62 

VI.  History  of  Political  Parties   in    the 

United  States,  and  the  Evtls  of  Par- 
ty Spirit 77 

VII.  Review  of  our  Judiciary  System 91 

VUl.     Stock  Operations,  "  Rings,"  and  **  Cor- 
ners " 113 

IX.     Natural    Rights     Considered.  —  Land 

Tenures 125 

X.     Natural   Rights    Considered     (Contin- 
ued). —Finance 133 

XI.    Natural   Rights    Considered     (Contin- 
ued).—Banking  System. 151 


IV  CONTENTS. 

XII.     Natural  Rights    Considered    (Contin- 
ued).— Transportation 159 

XIII.  Natural   Rights    Considered    (ContIxV- 

xted). — Communication 168 

XIV.  Natural    Rights  Considered  (Conclud- 

ed).— Education 176 

XV.     Labor  and  Capital 195 

XVI.     Tariff 217 

XVII.     Corporations 241 

XVIII.     Qualification  for  Citizenship 268 

XIX.     Nature  and  Uses  of  Government 280 

XX.     Difficulties  Considered 304 

XXI.     Summary 313 

Synopsis  of  the  New  Republic ^  327 


TO   THE   READER. 


It  may  seem  like  unwarrantable  presumption 
for  a  single  individual  to  put  forth  his  efforts  to 
restore  to  the  people  their  rights  by  effecting 
the  requisite  changes  in  our  government.  If  I 
presumed  upon  my  own  power  or  personal  influ- 
ence, such  presumption  would  not  only  be  un- 
warrantable, but  ridiculous. 

My  appeal  is  to  you  in  a  common  cause  ;  it  is 
to  your  sense  of  right,  your  love  of  justice  ;  it  is 
in  behalf  of  the  innocent,  helpless  victims  to  the 
overpowering  greed  of  corporate  rapacity ;  it  is 
to  that  just  and  laudable  pride  that  comes  from 
self-respect  and  claim  to  the  dignity  of  true  man- 
hood and  womanhood. 

I  appeal  to  your  sense  of  duty,  that  ever- 
present  but  often  feeble  voice  that  sjDcaks  to  all, 
that  our  destiny  and  happiness  are  inseparably 
connected  with  others  ;  that  we  can  help  ourselves 
only  as  we  help  others. 

I  wish  to  remind  you  that  our  interests  are 


b  TO   THE   READER. 

one  ;  of  the  power  of  unity ;  of  the  necessity  of 
unanhnity  of  thought  and  feeling  and  the  concert 
of  action. 

I  wish  to  remind  you  of  the  tactics  of  our 
oppressors,  whom  we  must  regard  as  enemies, 
in  keeping  the  people  distracted,  by  exciting 
mutual  hatred,  and  arraying  faction  against 
faction  and  interest  against  Interest,  and  thus 
secure  an  easy  victory.  Presuming  upon  their 
superiority,  they  take  government  matters  in 
their  own  hands,  furnish  candidates  committed 
to  their  interests  for  you  to  elect,  and  claim  that 
the  best  must  rule.  This  is  an  insult  that  de- 
serves the  most  Indignant  contempt. 

The  work  here  presented  for  your  considera- 
tion is  radical — it  goes  to  the  root  of  the  matter. 
Those  who  live  upon  j'our  toil  would  make  the 
science  of  government  complicated,  intricate,  ab- 
struse ;  they  would  fain  convince  you  that  it 
is  beyond  your  capacity  to  understand.  The 
weakest  and  most  contemptible  fear  is  that 
which  arises  from  ignorance.  Confront  any  one 
with  a  problem  of  which  he  is  profoundly  ig- 
norant, and  conviftce  him  that  his  welfare  lies  in 
its  solution,  and  two  things  will  result :  unbound- 
ed confidence  and  respect  for  the  one  who  he 
thinks  can  solve  the  problem,  and  a  feeling  of 
utter  dependence  on  him.     It  Is  for  you  to  be 


TO    THE    READER.  I 

able  to  solve  the  problems  of  free  government ; 
then  self-respect  and  self-confidence  will  secure 
your  independence. 

They  would  have  you  leave  the  business  for 
them  to  manage.  They  would  have  you  accept 
as  authority  the  accumulation  of  past  ages 
derived  from  monarchical  countries  for  them  to 
interpret  and  apply,  which  is  virtually  saying  : 
"You  produce  the  wealth  :  that  is  your  business  ; 
we  will  enjoy  it :  that  is  our  privilege.  We  will 
give  you  just  enough  of  it  to  live  and  work. 
That  will  secure  two  things  :  first,  it  will  enrich 
us ;  and  second,  it  will  keep  you  so  busy  in  earn- 
ing your  share,  that  you  will  not  have  time, 
means,  nor  opportunity  to  study  these  intricate 
questions  that  require  a  lifetime  of  research  to 
understand."  And  soon,  as  they  know,  you  will 
feel  no  disposition  to  study  them.  Unremitting 
and  constant  contact  with  hard  physical  force 
hardens  the  heart  as  well  as  the  hands,  and  dulls 
the  intellect  as  well  as  deadens  the  sentiments. 
Thus  the  producers  of  wealth — those  who  expend 
their  energies,  Avaste  their  lives,  and  blunt  all  tho 
finer  and  nobler  attributes  of  human  character  to 
create  the  millionaires'  wealth — are  regarded  as 
the  rabble,  mud-sills,  or,  in  their  more  polite 
language,  the  lower  classes. 

They  would  entice    you    into  the  mazes  and 


8  TO    THE    READER. 

labyrinths  of  "Political  Economy "  and  "Juris- 
prudence." as  expounded  by  some  "  great "  man, 
and  awe  you  into  submissive  silence  by  inform- 
ing you  that  none  but  "great  men"  and  pro- 
found statesmen  can  understand  these  wonderful 
sciences — the  accumulation  of  the  wisdom  of 
ages. 

These,  I  say,  are  their  tactics.  We  are  bound 
and  entangled  and  mystified  ;  they  have  woven  a 
network  of  sophistries  around  us,  and  point  to 
our  inability  to  comprehend  them,  thus  holding 
us  in  perpetual  bondage.  I  do  not  propose  to 
solve  these  mysteries :  they  cannot  do  it  them- 
selves ;  but  I  propose  to  lay  them  aside  as  im- 
practicable ;  to  ignore  these  theories  and  specu- 
lations. However  truthful  and  a2:>plicable  they 
may  have  been  or  may  be  to  monarchical  gov- 
ernments, they  are  foreign  to  a  republican  gov- 
ernment, and  therefore  useless  to  us.  In  proof 
of  this,  I  present  facts  and  conditions  as  the  legit- 
imate outcome  of  these  theories  in  this  volume 
— of  usurped  power,  of  untold  wealth  in  few 
hands,  of  an  impoverished  people,  of  the  rule  of 
avarice,  of  despotic  cruelty,  of  political  chicanery, 
of  corruption  in  high  places  and  poverty  in  low 
places,  of  insolent  arrogance  on  the  one  hand 
and  servile  submission  on  the  other ; — these  are 
the  fruits  of  corporate    conspiracy  to    rob    and 


TO    THE    READER.  y 

plunder  in  a  legal  way  ;  for  it  Is  a  fact  of 
alarming  sio;nificance  that  there  is  nothino;  clone 
or  being  done,  however  damaging  to  the  people's 
interest  and  fatal  to  republican  government,  hut 
what  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  constitution 
\ind  laws  of  the  land. 
\  I  have  shown  that  the  principles  and  processes 
of  republican  government  are  simple  and  com- 
prehensible, as  all  great  truths  and  principles  are 
when  stripped  of  the  verbiage  that  misleads  and 
mystifies.  Otherwise  republican  government  is 
a  myth,  an  impracticable  dream,  and  the  sooner 
we  know  it  the  better. 

Herbert  Spencer  is  a  profound  thinker.  He 
stands  confessedly  at  the  head  of  modern  scien- 
tists. Not  long  since,  he  spent  several  months  in 
the  United  States,  and  on  the  eve  of  his  depart- 
ure for  England  he  gave  liis  opinions  of  Ameri- 
can institutions.  He  said  :  "  The  republican  form 
of  government  is  the  highest  form  of  govern- 
ment, but  because  of  this,  it  requires  the  highest 
type  of  human  nature — a  type  nowhere  at  present 
existing.     We  have  not  grown  up  to  it,  nor  have 

you." 

There    is    deep    significance    in    these    words. 

Let  us  profit  by  them.     Let  us  have  not  only  the 

intelligence  to  perceive  the  cause  of  our  political 

downfall,  but  have  the  courage   to  assail  it  witli 

1* 


10  TO   THE   READER. 

destructive  weapons.  The  revolution  here  pro- 
posed is  not  a  bloody  conquest,  but  a  change 
from  bad  to  good,  from  vice  to  virtue,  from  slav- 
ery to  liberty,  from  despotism  to  freedom.  Let 
the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  intelligence,  prompted 
by  the  love  of  justice  and  guided  by  wisdom,  be 
the  nilent  but  potent  weapon  for  its  accomplish- 
ment. I  have  shown  that  all  depends  on  the 
qualification  of  the  ballot-holder.  It  is  for  the 
people  to  use  and  show  to  the  world  that  self- 
government  is  not  only  possible,  but  practicable. 

E.  J.  S. 


\ 


THE  peesentme:nt. 


"  Ye  build!  ye  build,  but  ye  enter  not  in, 
Like  the  tribes  whom  the  desert  devoured  in  their  sin; 
From  the  land  of  promise  ye  fade  and  die 
Ere  it  gleams  forth  on  your  wearied  eye." 

"  Who  would  be  free, 
Themselves  must  strike  the  blow." 

To  THE  People  of  the  United  States. 

The  time  has  now  come  when  all  true  men 
and  women  can  move  forward  in  one  unbroken 
line,  vindicating  and  protecting  their  natural 
rio-hts  as  set  forth  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence.  Your  interests  are  indentical,  your 
opportunities  for  action  are  free  and  ample,  and 
your  duties  are  plain  and  imperative. 

A  confederation  of  corporations  has  usurped 
the  sovereign  functions  of  this  government,  and 
exercises  them  for  its  sole  use  and  benefit, 
thereby  resolving  it  into  an  oligarchy. 

The  many  are  made  to  serve  the  few.  In- 
dustry is  made  to  enrich  idleness.  Capital 
created  by  hibor  has  gained  complete  control 
over  it,  and  holds  it  in  its  relentless  grasp. 


12  THE    PRESENTMENT. 

We  declare  that  tlic  principles  upon  which 
this  o-overnment  was  founded  have  been  ignored 
and  superseded  by  a  system  whose  essential  fea- 
tures are  borrowed  from  the  British  Govern- 
ment, 

Instead  of  equality,  Ave  have  class  distinctions 
founded  on  wealth. 

Instead  of  a  medium  of  circulation  to  carry  on 
the  industries  of  the  country  by  equal  exchange 
and  equitable  distribution,  we  have  a  limited  cur- 
rency controlled  by  corporations  for  their  special 
benefit. 

Instead  of  a  system  of  land  tenure  that  would 
secure  homes  for  the  people,  we  have  a  land 
monopoly  already  grown  to  an  alarming  extent, 
and  still  increaslno;. 

Instead  of  fair  and  equitable  rates  for  trans- 
portation and  travel,  we  have  ruinous  discrimina- 
tions, and  extortion  beyond  all  reason,  justice,  or 
precedent. 

Instead  of  labor  controlling  its  own  interests, 
and  regulating  its  relations  to  capital,  i't  is, 
by  aggressive  avarice  and  relentless  tyranny, 
trampled  upon,  the  rights  of  laboring  men  and 
women  ignored,  and  they  are  being  reduced  to 
hopeless  poverty  and  servile  dependence  ujjon  it. 
Instead  of  honest  representation  and  faithful 
public    service,  we  have    a    system    of  political 


THE    PRESENTMENT.  13 

machinery  that  manipulates  nominating  conven- 
tions, secures  the  election  of  their  candidates, 
and  by  lobbying  and  bribery  controls  the  legis- 
lative, executive,  and  judicial  departments  of  the 
government. 

As  a  consequence  of  these  unjust  measures 
and  usurped  powers,  the  vast  majority  of  the 
people  are  made  to  pay  tribute  to  the  few, 
whereby  immense  wealth  accumulates  in  their 
hands,  by  which  class  distinctions  are  built  up, 
and  aristocracies  are  founded  at  the  cost  of  the 
wealth  producer. 

There  is  no  good  reason  why  any  should  be 
compelled  to  long  and  monotonous  labor  ;  to  toil 
without  recompense,  save  that  of  a  bare  subsist- 
ence, a  condition  that  deadens  stimulus,  and  ban- 
ishes all  expectation  and  aspiration  for  anything 
higher  than  to  be  the  sons  and  daughters  of  in- 
cessant toil. 

To  liberate  yourselves  from  the  tyranny  of 
capital,  to  break  the  bonds  that  enslave  you,  to 
strike  off  the  fetters  imposed  by  the  bandit-chiefs 
of  the  Stock  and  Grain  Exchange,  and  the  rob- 
ber-leaders who  organize  parties  into  machines, 
is  your  work. 

Let  us  demand  Justice  that  secures  Equality ; 
Equality  that  secures  Liberty;  Liberty  that  se- 
cures Happiness  ;  for  Happiness  is  the  end  and 
aim  of  human  existence. 


THE  NEW  REPUBLIC. 


CHAPTER    I. 


DEFINITIONS. 


*•  'Tis  coming  up  tbe  steeps  of  time, 

And  this  old  world  is  growing  brighter  ; 
We  yet  may  see  its  dawn  sublime, 
For  high  hopes  make  the  heart  throb  lighter." 

Government  in  the  sense  of  political  science 
is  an  agreement,  expressed  or  implied,  to  con- 
form to  certain  regulations  by  a  body  of  people 
having  common  interests  and  a  common  country. 
It  is  based  on  man's  social  nature  and  mutual 
wants ;  and  has  for  its  object  the  regulation  and 
protection  of  its  citizens  in  the  full  and  free  ex- 
ercise of  their  natural  rights,  privileges,  and  op- 
portunities. 

Some  uniformity  and  concert  of  action,  some 
common  sentiment  finding  expression  in  law  and 
the  various  institutions  of  a  country,  are  indispen- 
sable to  the  very    existence    of    society.      This 


16  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

truth  has  given  rise  to  the  adage,  "Bad  govern- 
jnent  is  better  than  no  government." 

Government,  being  a  national  association 
founded  on  mutual  interests  and  mutual  dejDend- 
encies — an  organized  system  of  procedure — and 
necessary  to  secure  these  interests  and  the  bene- 
fits of  co-operation  in  the  pursuit  of  mutual 
advantages,  requires  legislative  and  executive 
powers. 

When  these  powers  are  exercised  in  the  inter- 
est of  a  few,  who,  by  the  force  of  custom  and 
false  education,  hold  the  many  in  subjection,  such 
government  is  Despotism  ;  when  they  are  exer- 
cised by  the  people  through  an  organized  system 
of  representation,  such  government  is  a  Rejjuhlic. 

These  two  modes  of  government  constitute  the 
base  upon  which  all  the  various  forms  of  govern- 
ment amono;  mankind  are  founded.  The  one  is 
based  upon  assumed,  usurped,  vested  power ;  the 
other  upon  natural  rights.  The  former  demands 
submission  to  superiors,  the  latter  obedience  to 
Avell-regulated  institutions ;  the  one  for  the  ag- 
grandizement of  the  few,  the  other  embraces 
the  good  of  all. 

(1)  A  republican  government  is  founded 
upon  the  natural  rights  of  the  people,  and  has 
for  its  sole  object  the  regulation  of  those  rights 
and  the  protection  of  the  people  in  their  full  and 
free  exercise. 


DEFINITIONS.  17 

(2)  Human  rights  are  based  upon  the  necessi- 
ties and  requirements  of  life,  and  consist  in  a 
natural  claim  to  the  means  of  obtaining  them ; 
the  essential  conditions  of  which  are  personal 
liberty,  physical  sustenance,  and  mental  free- 
dom. 

(3)  As  life  is  of  divine  origin,  so  are  the  rights 
necessary  to  maintain  it:  and  those  means  by 
which  all  its  purposes  ai'C  accomplished  are 
equally  divine.  These  rights  are  inalienable, 
and  as  sacred  as  life  itself,  because  their  full  and 
free  exercise  is  essential  to  the  accomplishment 
of  life's  purposes. 

(4)  The  right  to  live  carries  with  it  the  right 
of  personal  liberty,  the  means  of  subsistence, 
and  the  development  and  culture  of  all  the  intel- 
lectual, moral,  esthetic,  and  spiritual  powers  and 
capabilities  of  the  individual ;  and  as  all  have 
the  right  equally  to  live,  so  all  have  the  right 
equally  to  its  prerogatives,  means,  and  possibili- 
ties. 

(5)  Since  the  ca^jaclty  to  enjoy  liberty,  to  ac- 
quire the  means  of  subsistence,  and  the  natural 
capacity  for  mental  development  and  spiritual  cul- 
ture are  within  certain  limits,  with  the  free  exercise 
of  these  natural  rights,  the  status  of  the  individ- 
ual in  such  conditions,  physically.  Intellectually, 
morally,  and  spiritually,  would  correspond  with 


18  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

such  capacity  ;  and  equality  of  conditions  within 
these  limits  would  be  established  in  a  government 
founded  on  natural  rights.  In  other  words, 
the  status  of  equality  would  be  commensurate 
with  the  natural  capacity  of  the  people  in  the 
full  and  free  enjoyment  of  such  rights.  As  the 
limits  in  physical  stature,  strength,  and  endur- 
ance are  comparatively  narrow,  with  like  de- 
velopment and  culture,  all  the  mental  attributes 
would  be  within  the  same  narrow  limits,  and 
NATURAL  EQUALITY  would  be  the  rcsult. 

The  struo:o;les  and  miseries  of  life  have  arisen 
chiefly  from  the  denial  of  these  natural  rights  ; 
and  the  usurpation  of  powers  founded  on  the 
idea  of  a  divine  right  to  rule  still  prevails  in  all 
civilized  countnes,  under  the  name  of  vested 
RIGHTS.  Whenever  natural  rights  have  as- 
serted their  claims,  "  vested  rights,"  holding  the 
supremacy,  have  overpowered  them,  and  thus 
kept  mankind  in  submission. 

Contending  usurpers  have  involved  nations  in 
war,  either  to  support  dynasties  or  for  conquest ; 
and  the  wealth  produced  by  the  toiling  millions 
has  been  squandered  to  satisfy  the  demands  of 
ambitions  pomp,  luxury,  and  avarice.  These  are 
the  fruits  of  despotism. 

On  the  other  hand,  under  a  government  that 
secures  the  exercise  and  enjoyment    of    natural 


DEFINITIOXS.  19 

rights,  each  one  would  hokl  and  enjoy  the  wealth 
he  produces.  The  result  would  be  the  prosper- 
ity, advancement,  and  happiness  of  the  people  ; 
whereas,  the  result  of  "  vested  rights,"  exercised 
by  the  few,  is  war,  with  all  its  attendant  evils,  the 
burdens  of  which  are  borne  by  the  people,  but 
the  glory,  wealth,  and  power  go  to  the  few ;  in- 
cessant toil,  poverty,  and  slavery  of  the  many, 
and  idleness,  luxury,  and  dominion  to  the  few. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  usurped  powers  vested  in 
governments,  formulated  in  constitutions,  com- 
manding obedience  by  the  authority  of  law,  and 
exercised  for  the  benefit  of  the  usurpers,  must 
antagonize  natural  rights,  and  the  results  are 
inordinate  wealth,  tyranny,  and  oppression  on 
the  one  hand ;  and  poverty,  debt,  ignorance, 
crime,  degradation,  and  misery  on  the  other. 

In  our  country,  all  vested  powers,  derived 
from  the  idea  of  a  divine  right  to  rule,  have  been 
proscribed  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  but  have 
been  more  than  supplied  by  powers  vested  in 
corporations  for  private  enterprise,  under  the 
authority  granted  by  law,  which  have  usurped 
and  now  exercise  the  sovereign  functions  of  gov- 
ernment  for  their  sole  use  and  benefit,  and  by 
their  power  dictate  all  the  affairs  of  government 
and  control  all  its  sources  of  wealth.  A  govern- 
ment thus  based  upon  assumed  vested  rights  can 


20  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

never  be  "  a  government  of  the  people,  for  tlie 
people,  by  the  people."  Power  emanating  from 
the  people,  and  delegated  to  their  representatives 
for  exercise,  must  remain  under  the  people's  con- 
trol and  subject  to  their  will. 

"  Government  is  nothing  more  than  a  national 
association,  and  the  object  of  this  association  is 
protection,  as  well  individually  as  collectively. 
Every  man  wishes  to  pursue  his  occupation  and  to 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  labors  and  the  produce  of  his 
px'operLy  in  peace  and  safety,  and  with  the  least 
possible  expense.  When  these  things  are  accom- 
plished, all  the  objects  for  which  government  ought 
to  be  established  are  answered." — Paine's  Mights 
of  Man. 

There  is  but  one  general  principle  that  distin- 
guishes freedom  from  slavery,  which  is,  that  all 
vested  power  is  to  the  people  a  species  of  slavery, 
the  degree  of  which  corresponds  with  that  of  the 
power  vested  and  exercised  ;  and  delegated  pow- 
er truly  and  faithfully  exercised  in  a  government 
is  freedom  within  the  scope  of  popular  govern- 
ment. The  power  is  in  the  people,  not  in  their 
public  servants ;  in  those  who  pay,  and  not  in 
those  who  are  paid. 

The  prevalent  idea  is  that  the  government  is 
the  power  and  the  people  are  subject  to  it ; 
whereas,  the  true  idea  is  that  the  people  are  sov- 
ereign, and  that  the  government  is  the  prescribed 


DEFINITIONS.  21 

means  for  regulating  their  rights  and  protecting 
them  in  the  exercise  of  them,  and  their  official 
agents  are  subject  to  their  control.  A  simple 
application  of  this  idea  will  determine  whether 
our  government  is  a  republic  or  not.  If  the 
greatest  good  is  secured  to  the  greatest  number ; 
if  the  subdivision  of  land  is  so  regulated  and 
occupancy  so  protected  that  all  citizens  who  desire 
it  may  have  homes  upon  it ;  if  all  who  produce 
wealth  can  hold  and  enjoy  it;  if  transportation, 
travel,  and  communication  for  intelligence  are  se- 
cured at  the  cost  of  service ;  if  in  elections  the 
voice  of  the  people  is  fairly  expressed;  if  the 
burden  of  revenue  is  borne  by  all  according  to 
their  ability  to  pay ;  if  labor  and  capital  are 
united  in  one  common  interest ;  if  social  and 
educational  institutions  secure  to  the  people  the 
greatest  blessings  they  are  capable  of  giving — 
then  we  have  a  republican  government. 

Such  was  the  government  contemplated  a 
hundred  years  ago  by  the  patriots.  Inspired  by 
the  love  of  liberty  and  the  divine  heritage  of 
human  rights,  they  struggled  with  almost  super- 
human efforts,  endured  indescribable  hardships, 
and  made  heroic  sacrifices  to  gain  for  themselves 
and  transmit  to  posterity  the  highest  and  noblest 
of  earthly  blessings — liberty,  equality,  fraternity, 
justice,  secured  by  popular  government. 


22  THE    NEW    llEPUBLIC. 

But  before  such  government  could  be  fully 
formulated  and  set  in  operation,  and  during  its 
brief  existence,  by  the  intrigues  and  machina- 
tions of  the  enemies  of  free  government,  its 
aims  were  diverted  and  its  purposes  defeated. 

To  show  how  far  popular  rights  have  been 
usurped,  the  following  instance  is  given  :  In  the 
last  Congress  an  amendment  to  the  post-office 
bill  was  offered,  which  provided,  first,  for  an 
amendment  to  the  charters  of  the  Union  and 
Central  Pacific  railroads ;  and  second,  for  the 
reduction  of  compensation  for  carrying  the 
mails  on  old-subsidy-and-land-grant  railroads  to 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  rate  paid  on  roads  built  by 
private  capital.  The  arguments  in  support  of 
the  amendment  were,  that  as  the  government 
had  virtually  built  these  roads  by  donating  to 
corporations  land  and  subsidy  bonds  amply  suf- 
ficient in  amount  to  cover  all  costs  of  construc- 
tion and  equipments,  it  had  the  I'ight  to  de- 
mand the  transportation  of  the  mails  over  them 
at  cost. 

But  the  argus  eyes  of  corporations  saw  that  it 
would  never  do  to  acknowledge  the  right  or 
power  of  the  government  to  lay  its  finger  upon 
a  corporate  prerogative,  no  matter  how  justly 
or  how  much  the  public  good  demanded  it;  so 
through    its  Democratic   mouth-piece,  Abi*am  S. 


DEFINITIONS.  23 

Hewitt  (son-in-law  of  the  venerable  Peter 
Cooper),  in  a  tone  of  holy  horror  it  wanted  to 
know  "  if  the  House  felt  prepared  to  begin  the 
work  of  confiscating  private  property,  which, 
when  once  approved  by  a  vote  of  the  House, 
would  proceed  with  fearful  strides  until  it  ended 
in  a  logical  result — communism." 

Through  its  Republican  organ,  Mr.  Caswell,  it 
was  more  defiant,  and  declared  that  the  amend- 
ment would  be  inoperative,  as  it  was  a  blow  at 
the  vested  rights  of  those  corporations,  "  ivhich 
could  not  he  taken  away  or  invaded  hy  Congreisy 

Any  regulation  for  the  reduction  of  rates  for 
transportation  on  those  roads  which  were  virtu- 
ally built  by  the  people  is  declared  "  confisca- 
tion of  private  property,"  resulting  in  "  commun- 
ism." 

This  from  the  Democratic  side  of  corporate 
power;  on  the  Republican  side,  "a  blow  at  the 
vested  rights  of  corporations,  which  could  not 
be  taken  away  or  invaded  by  Congress  "  ! 

The  definitions  here  presented  show  the  ne- 
cessity and  importance  of  the  people  in  taking 
immediate  and  determined  action  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  government  in  which  they  will 
realize  the  blessings  that  justice,  equality,  and 
liberty  give.  The  time  must  be  near  at  hand, 
when  the  people,  whose  rights  have  been  denied 


24  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

and  their  powers  usurped  by  a  confederation  of 
corporations,  will  arise  in  their  might,  arouse 
their  slumbering  energies,  and  resolve  that  to 
secure  the  natural  and  inalienable  rights  they 
will  demand  such  a  government  as  will  secure 
them;  "laying  its  foundations  on  such  principles 
and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form  as  to  them 
shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and 

happiness Where  a  long  train  of  abuses 

and  usurpations,  having  invariably  the  same  ob- 
ject, evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  to  absolute 
despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  diity^  to  throw 
off  such  government,  and  provide  new  guards  for 
their  future  safety."  This  right,  this  duty,  is  as 
sacred  and  binding  now  as  it  was  a  hundred 
years  ago 

The  issues  now  involved  are  essentially  the 
same ;  we  have,  however,  this  advantage :  the 
foundation  which  they  established,  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  and  the  ballot,  with  which 
we  may  regain  our  liberties.  The  foundation  is 
acknowledged  by  all,  and  the  ballot  is  in  the 
hands  of  enough  to  express  the  intelligence  and 
enforce  the  will  of  the  people,  which  constitute 
the  power  of  the  government.  It  only  remains 
to  test  that  intelligence  and  moral  force  of  the 
people's  will,  for  there  is  no  obstacle  that  intelli- 
gence and  moral  power  cannot  overcome. 


OUTLINES    OF    THE    NEW    REPUBLIC.  25 

CHAPTER  II. 

OUTLINES    OF    THE    NEW  RErUBLIC. 

"  What  constitute  a  state? 

Men,  liigh-miuded  ineu, 
With  powers  as  far  above  dull  brUtes  endued, 

In  forest,  brake,  or  den, 
As  beasts  excel  cold  rocks  and  brambles  rude ; 

Men  who  their  duties  know. 
But  know  their  rights,  and  knowing  dare  maintain; 

Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow, 
And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain  ; — 

These  constitute  a  state." 

A  GOVERNMENT  founded  on  the  natural  rights 
of  the  people  must  have  a  system  by  which  their 
will  can  be  fully  and  fairly  expressed. 

This  requires  political  jurisdictions  of  two 
kinds  ;  for  organizations,  like  individuals,  must 
have  prescribed  limits.  First,  primary,  in  which 
the  people  have  direct  and  personal  control  over 
their  local  affairs.  By  this  local  government, 
the  construction  of  roads,  bridges,  and  the 
erection  of  buildings  for  public  use,  as  schools, 
lyceums,  and  for  public  entertainment,  conduct- 
incr  educational  matters  and  all  domestic  affairs, 
are  under  the  direct  control  of  the  people.  The 
administration  of  justice  in  all  civil  and  criminal 
matters,  the  abatement  of  nuisances  and  all  other 
2 


26  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

concerns    of    a     local   character,    arc    managed 
directly  by  the  people  in  their  local  jurisdictions. 

Second,  representative,  because  of  the  extent 
of  country  and  population,  and  the  common  in- 
terests arising  from  the  combinations  of  local 
governments,  the  powers  are  delegated  to  agents 
who  represent  the  people  in  their  interests. 

Sovereign  control  is  to  be  exercised  in  these 
jurisdictions  in  matters  pertaining  to  them  respect- 
ively :  in  local,  by  the  people  direct ;  in  the  rep- 
resentative, by  delegates  elected  by  the  people. 

The  primary  jurisdictions  extend  to  convenient 
limits,  and  unite  to  form  county  jurisdictions 
whose  interests  will  be  served  by  representatives. 
This  is  the  first  representative  jurisdiction. 

Another,  embracing  the  State,  also  represented 
by  delegates  elected  by  the  people,  would  be  the 
second.  This  body  of  delegates  will  have 
charsre  of  all  the  interests  of  the  State,  and  tha 
regulation  of  all  affairs  in  which  the  people  of 
the  State  have  a  common  interest. 

The  highest  representative  jurisdiction  will 
embrace  the  whole  country,  and  the  delegates 
for  It  will  be  elected  by  the  people  of  the  re- 
spective States,  and  their  powers  and  duties  will 
embrace  all  tlie  interests  of  the  people  in  the 
capacity  of  a  General  Government. 

Each    of   these   jurisdictions    will   exercise    a 


OUTLINES    OF    THE    NEW    ItEPUBLIC.  27 

separate  and  inclepeudeiit  sovereignty.  Sover- 
eignty pertains  to  vmity,  and  each  unit  has  sover- 
eignty over  its  own  interests.  In  all  that  be- 
longs to  a  primary  jurisdiction,  its  sovereignty  is 
distinct  and  complete,  and  does  not  conflict  with 
any  other.  So  of  a  county,  a  state,  or  the 
nation. 

The  sovereign  powers  of  the  nation  will  be  ex- 
ercised by  a  legislative  and  executive  department, 
which  will  be  prescribed  by  a  constitution,  which 
will  also  contain  provisions  for  other  offices  in 
the  government,  and  for  tlie  election  of  officers, 
prescribing  their  duties  and  relations  to  their 
constituents. 

The  state  governments  will  be  constructed  on 
like  principles,  with  sovereign  powers  co-exten- 
sive with  their  respective  jurisdictions. 

The  county  governments  will  be  merely  ad- 
ministrative, and  their  sovereign  powers  will  be 
commensurate  with  their  respective  jurisdictions. 

Primary  jurisdictions  will  regulate  all  local 
affairs  within  the  limits  of  the  state  and  national 
government. 

Thus  a  scheme  of  government  simple  in  its  con- 
struction and  easy  of  comprehension  will  secure 
all  the  purposes  for  which  popular  government 
is  instituted,  originating  directly  from  the  peo- 
ple and  under  their  absolute  control ;  the  powers 


28  THE    NEAV    KErUBLIC. 

delegated  will  return  to  the  peo])le  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  term  of  office. 

Having  outlined  the  general  system  of  repub- 
lican government,  the  most  important  subjects 
for  consideration  are  the  qualifications  of  citizens 
and  the  modes  of  election.  The  character  of  a 
government  is  that  of  the  people  composing  it. 
If  they  have  no  true  conception  of  just  govern- 
ment, no  just  government  can  exist.  The  pow- 
ers of  government  arc  inherent  in  the  people, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  exercise,  are  intrusted  or 
delegated  to  some  of  their  number.  If  these 
powers  are  so  conferred  as  to  be  controlled  by 
the  delegates  and  beyond  control  or  recall  by 
the  people,  republican  government  ceases  and  is 
changed  to  despotism. 

The  first  qualification  of  a  citizen  is  a  willing- 
ness to  concede  to  others  all  that  he  demands  for 
himself.  This  implies  justice  and  equality,  with- 
out which  republican  government  cannot  exist. 

The  second  qualification  for  citizenship  is  a 
disposition  and  determination,  at  all  times  and  in 
all  places,  to  support  the  rule  of  the  majority, 
when  fairly  and  properly  expressed.  This  is  the 
authority  of  government. 

The  third  qualification  is  intelligence  and 
moral  appreciation.  A  clear  comprehension  of 
the  principles  of  government  and  its  purposes. 


OUTLINES    OF    THE    NEW    REPUBLIC.  29 

and  the  tluties  of  the  citizen,  are  indispensable. 
This  is  the  pov^er  of  the  government. 

The  fourth  qualification  embraces  those  attri- 
butes that  fit  the  individual  for  the  social  duties 
of  life,  for  government  is  a  national  association. 
These  constitute  the  benefits  of  government,  for 
it  is  by  it  that  they  are  enabled  to  become  gen- 
eral. 

These  qualifications  are  required  of  all,  regard- 
less of  sex.  The  rights  of  women  are  equal  with 
those  of  men.  Since  government  is  founded  on 
rights,  it  becomes  as  necessary  to  one  sex  as  to 
the  other  ;  for  the  question  of  sex  does  not  in- 
volve that  of  rights. 

The  power  for  good  is  the  love  of  those  attri- 
butes that  secure  it,  applied  by  the  guidance  of 
wisdom.  This  power  is  all-sufficient  for  man's 
purposes.  It  will  overthrow  despotism  and  cor- 
ruption ;  it  will  emancipate  the  people  from 
ignorance,  poverty,  crime,  and  misery.  It  will 
bring  to  realization  the  dreams  of  the  philoso- 
pher and  the  hopes  of  the  humanitarian. 

It  is  attainable,  not  by  conquest,  but  by  the 
exercise  of  those  attributes  that  constitute  the 
true  citizen,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
ballot. 

It  comes  not  with  the  sound  of  the  trumpet 
and   the  clash  of  arms,  but  by  the  gentle  and 


30  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

peaceful  exercise  of  thought.  It  is  ours  when 
we  command  it,  without  cost  or  sacrifice,  and  of 
more  value  than  wealth  and  pomp  and  dominion 
combined.  Justice  is  its  basis,  equality  its  con- 
dition, and  liberty,  peace,  and  prosperity  its  bless- 
ings. 

All  it  asks  is  the  liberty  of  appearing  ;  all  it 
needs  is  the  appreciation  of  the  people.  But  so 
deeply  rooted  are  the  existing  systems  of  the 
governments  of  the  world,  and  so  strongly  have 
tyranny,  the  reverence  for  antiquity,  and  the  slav- 
ery of  fear  wrought  upon  men,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
overcome  their  influence.  To  eradicate  error  or 
remove  prejudice  is  more  difficult  than  to  instill 
truth  and  inspire  confidence  in  receptive  minds. 
To  realize  this  truth  is  the  first  step  in  this  great 
work,  and  no  greater  or  more  important  work 
can  engage  the  mind  and  labor  of  man. 

Having  outlined  the  general  system  of  repub- 
lican government  and  the  qualifications  of  its 
citizens,  it  is  important  to  consider  a  just  method 
of  election.  Tlie  voice  of  the  people  must  be 
fairly  and  honestly  expressed.  In  order  to  do 
this,  the  representatives  must  be  elected  by"  the 
people  in  their  respective  jurisdictions,  without 
regard  to  lines  of  subdivision  ;  that  is  to  say, 
all  the  officers  of  a  county  must  be  voted  for 
without  respect  to  district  lines,  those  of  a  state 


OUTLINES    OF    THE    NEW    REPUBLIC.  31 

regardless  of   county  lines,  and  those  of   the  na- 
tion irrespective  of  state  lines. 

One  month  before  the  final  election,  let  there 
be  held  a  primary  election,  Avith  all  the  binding 
force  and  safeguards  that  the  law  can  give. 
Let  each  voter  express  his  or  her  choice  for  a 
candidate  for  office  freely ;  and  let  there  be  as 
many  candidates  as  the  people  desire  to  vote  for. 
When  these  votes  have  been  officially  canvassed 
and  reported,  let  all  candidates  be  dropped  ex- 
cept those  having  the  highest  number  of  votes 
aggregating  a  majority  of  the  party  voting  for 
them.  At  the  final  election,  each  party  will 
unite  on  one  or  more  candidates  who  will  be  the 
choice  of  the  majority  of  his  party. 

Where  a  number  of  officers  of  the  same  kind 
are  to  be  elected,  as  supervisors,  commissioners, 
and  legislators,  let  the  number  of  votes  in  the 
jurisdiction  be  divided  by  the  number  of  officers 
to  be  elected,  and  the  quotient  be  termed  a 
quota.  When  a  candidate  receives  a  quota  of 
votes,  let  him  be  declared  elected.  Then  each 
party  will  concentrate  its  whole  force  on  as  many 
candidates  as  it  can  elect,  for  more  than  that 
would  defeat  its  candidates.  Thus  each  party 
would  have  a  proportional  representation. 

With  a  government  thus  founded,  constructed, 
and  represented,  the  people  of  the  United  States 


32  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

would  be  the  most  j)owerful,  pi-osperous,  and 
happy  nation  on  the  globe,  rcquirhig  neither 
strife  nor  blood  to  attain  such  conditions. 

One  hundred  years  of  experience,  with  tlie  aid 
of  history  and  the  present  condition  of  existing 
nations,  ought  to  be  a  sufficient  guide  to  that 
happy  consummation. 

Wisdom,  justice,  and  humanity  dictate  it;  ad- 
vancing civilization  requires  it ;  and  an  enslaved, 
robbed,  and  impoverished  people  demand  it.  To 
break  this  thralldom  and  maintain  popular  free- 
dom is  the  first  and  most  important  duty,  and  the 
highest  privilege  of  this  oppressed,  impoverished, 
and  enslaved  people. 

Let  all  who  think,  who  love  liberty,  justice, 
and  humanity,  resolve  to  accomplish  this  great 
work  ;  and  the  toiling  millions,  struggling  in 
their  poverty  and  now  sinking  into  pauperism, 
with  grateful  voices  will  bless  tlie  workers  ;  com- 
ing generations  will  sing  their  praises,  and  the 
glory  of  a  moral  heroism  far  surpassing  any  dis- 
played on  the  field  of  battle  will  give  worth  and 
splendor  to  the  names  of  those  who  did  it. 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR   LIBERTY.  33 


CHAPTER  III. 

A    BRIEF    RE\aEW    OF   THE    STRUGGLE   FOR 
LIBERTY. 

"The  man  that  is  not  moved  at  what  he  reads, 
That  takes  not  fire  at  their  heroic  deeds, 
Unworthy  of  the  blessings  of  the  brave, 
Is  base  in  kind,  and  born  to  be  a  slave." 

» 

The  love  of  liberty  is  inherent  in  every  sen- 
tient being.  The  condition  of  liberty  is  essential 
in  the  accomplishment  of  life's  purposes.  In  the 
wilds  of  the  new  continent,  and  yielding  to  the 
impulse  of  freedom,  the  colonists  were  not  slow 
in  developing  its  spirit  and  enjoying^he  sweets 
of  unrestrained  activity.  But  the  tyranny  .that 
drove  them  from  their  native  land  followed  them 
to  their  new  homes,  and  with  insatiable  lust 
sought  to  replace  its  shackles  upon  them.  For 
more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  this  struggle 
went  on.  Inspired  only  by  avarice  and  the  love 
of  dominion.  Great  Britain  resorted  to  every 
means  for  her  own  aggrandizement  at  the  expense 
of  the  colonists.  And  yet  the  colonists  main- 
tained a  loyalty  to  the  mother  government  with 
wonderful  pertinacity.  But  the  accumulation  of 
wrongs  proved  too  much  for  even  such  loyalty. 

2* 


34  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

4 

The  colonies  were  made  a  source  of  immense 
revenue  to  the  mother  country,  and  the  struggle 
to  throw  off  British  tyranny  was  as  intense  and 
determined  as  the  spirit  of  the  colonists  had  been 
patient  and  Indulgent ;  and  the  long  contest  ended 
in  the  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  by  Great  Britain  in  1783. 

It  was  not  until  1754  that  any  effort  was  made 
to  confederate  the  colonies  for  mutual  defense. 
In  that  year,  the  first  movement  for  a  confedera- 
tion of  interests  in  the  colonies  was  made  for 
defense  against  the  threatened  invasion  of  the 
French  and  in  support  of  the  home  government. 
The  next  was  in  1765,  in  wlilch  a  Declaration  of 
Eights  was  published,  but  nothing  further  was 
done.  The  first  suggestion  of  an  independent 
movement  was  made  in  1774,  and  the  first  Con- 
tinental Congress  was  lield  in  Philadelphia  in  Sep- 
tember of  that  year ;  and  in  October  following 
a  Declaration  of  Rights  appeared,  in  which  nat- 
ural rlMits  were  considered  to  some  extent,  and 
representation  in  their  colonial  government  de- 
manded, and  a  protest  against  certain  usurpations. 
The  result  was  expressed  in  the  following  words  : 

"  1.  To  enter  into  a  non-importation,  non-con- 
sumption, and  non-exportation  agreement  or  as- 
sociation. 

"  2.  To    prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    LIBERTY.  35 

Great  Britain,  and  a  memorial  to  the  inhabitants 
of  British  America. 

"  3.  To  prepare  a  loyal  address  to  his  Majesty, 
agreeable  to  resolutions  already  entered  into." 

But  the  stirring  events  that  intervened  between 
that  act  and  July,  1776,  prepared  the  people  for 
that  grandest  of  all  Declarations.  For  sublimity 
and  heroism  it  transcends  anything  ever  accom- 
plished by  man  ;  and  for  the  interests  involved 
in  humanity  no  deeds  of  men  approach  it.  "  We 
hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  thai  all  men 
are  created  equal.'"  The  necessary  condition  of 
equality  is  justice,  and  justice  among  men  pre- 
cludes the  necessity  of  charity,  for  those  only  re- 
quire charity  who  suffer  from  injustice. 

"  That  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
certain  inalienable  rights."  Bold  and  sacrilegious 
is  the  power  that  deprives  them  of  these  rights. 
Emanating  from  a  divine  source,  they  are  them- 
selves divine,  and  their  deprivation  by  force  or 
fraud  is  a  crime. 

"  That  to  secure  these  rights  governments  are 
instituted  among  men."  This  is  the  legitimate 
object  of  government. 

"  Deriving  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed."  All  power  derived  from  other 
sources  is  despotism.  Consent  implies  volition, 
and  a  government  sustained  ]fy  such  power  must 
necessarily  be  free. 


36  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

"  That  whenever  any  form  of  government  be- 
comes destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of 
the  people  to  alter  or  abolish  it." 

This  is  the  right  of  all  rights.  It  protects  the 
people  from  the  odious  charge  of  revolution  in 
any  change  of  government  they  see  fit  to  make. 
It  is  as  legitimate  to  alter  or  abolish  a  govern- 
ment as  to  enact  laws  in  support  of  it. 

"To  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its 
foundation  on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its 
powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most 
likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness." 

By  this  declaration  the  right  to  build  up  in 
any  form  "most  likely  to  affect  their  safety  and 
happiness  is  conceded."  It  ignores  all  authority 
outside  of  the  people,  and  leaves  them  free  at  any 
time  to  "  alter  or  abolish "  and  institute  a  new 
government. 

Upon  these  principles  a  government  was  par- 
tially founded,  but  in  the  pressure  of  events  and 
the  condition,  of  the  country,  it  was  for  a  time  left 
incomplete.  Sovereignty  is  an  essential  condi- 
tion of  complete  unity. 

In  1777,  the  Continental  Congress  adopted  the 
Articles  of  Confederation.  It  was  a  compact  of 
States  ;  it  was  not  national.  It  served,  however, 
to  tide  over  the  struggle  and  set  the  people  upon 
an  independent  basis.     It  was  required  to  exer- 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    LIBERTY.  37 

else  sovereign  functions  of  ti  national  cliaracter. 
It  was  not  endowed  with  that  sovereignty.  It 
needed  completing,  and  had  it  been  clothed  with 
national  sovereignty,  the  inestimable  blessings  of 
free  government  would  have  been  secured  to  the 
American  people,  just  as  these  principles  were,  as 
ratified  in  1778. 

In  the  Articles  of  Confederation  the  States  were 
reo-arded  as  beino;  endowed  with  absolute  sov- 
ereignty,  and  the  Confederation  as  an  agreement 
to  ''  be  inviolably  observed  by  every  State."  A 
government  that  extends  its  jurisdiction  over  the 
whole  in  all  matters  which  concern  the  interest 
of  the  whole,  or  which  relates  to  intercourse  with 
other  powers  with  which  it  is  connected,  must  pos- 
sess sovereignty  over  the  acts  it  is  required  to 
pei'form  and  the  interests  it  is  required  to  pro- 
tect. This  defect  in  the  then  existing  form  of 
fjovernment  led  to  a  call  for  a  revision  and  amend- 
ment  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  the  his- 
tory of  which  will  be  presented  in  the  next  chap- 
ter. 

Thus  the  struggle  for  liberty  ended  in  a  brief 
but  brilliant  victory.  Its  fruit,  which  promised 
to  nourish  the  famishing  millions,  was  turned  to 
bitter  ashes,  Avhich  only  impoverishes  by  its  hol- 
low pretensions. 

While  liberty  itself  is  lost,'  the  name  remains, 

280115 


38  THE    NEW   REPUBLIC. 

and  since  its  blessings  have  never  been  felt  by 
this  generation,  its  value  is  notestiinatctl.  Inces- 
sant toil  and  privation  stultify  the  mental  powers 
and  impoverish  the  spirit. 

A  condition  that  requires  the  whole  time  and 
energy  to  procure  the  necessary  means  of  sub- 
sistence defeats  the  very  purposes  for  which  life 
is  given. 

The  true  purpose  of  life  is  to  develop  and  cid- 
tlvate  to  their  highest  capacity  all  the  powers 
and  attributes  of  body  and  mind,  thus  rounding 
out  the  individual  to  full  and  harmonious  propor- 
tions ;  but  this  is  impossible  under  existing  con- 
ditions, because  the  wliole  energies  are  exhausted 
in  procuring  a  bare  subsistence. 

This  condition  is  virtually  slavery — a  condition 
incompatible  with  the  purposes  of  life  and  the 
happiness  of  mankind.  The  attainment  of  liberty 
which  involves  the  reconstruction  of  government 
is  the  work  of  the  people,  Avithout  which  life  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness  are  but  idle  dreams. 


THE    FEDERAL    COXSTITUTIOX.  39 


CHAPTER    IV. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION, 
AND  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  LEADING  MEN 
WHO    ADVOCATED    AND    WHO    OPPOSED    IT. 

"  God  of  mercy  !  must  this  last  ? 

Is  this  land  preordaiusd 
For  the  present,  as  in  the  past, 

And  the  future,  to  be  chained  ; 

To  be  ravaged,  to  be  drained, 
To  be  robbed,  to  be  spoiled, 

To  be  hushed,  to  be  whipped, 

Its  soaring  pinions  to  be  clipped, 
And  its  every  effort  foiled  ?  " 

There  has  been  no  period  in  the  history  of 
the  world  in  which  popidar  government  was  so 
nearly  in  the  balance  as  in  1787,  when  the  Federal 
Constitution  was  framed  and  adopted  by  the 
convention  in  old  "  Liberty  Hall." 

Long  years  of  struggle  for  liberty,  with  vary- 
ing success,  had  prepared  the  friends  of  freedom 
throughout  the  world  for  a  determined  resist- 
ance to  the  encroachments  of  usurped  rights, 
and  strike  a  blow  that  would  effectually  destro3' 
its  power  on  American  soil,  and  give  civil  liberty 
an  abiding  place  for  all  time  to  tome. 

Only  in  their  possession  for  a  brief  period,  and 


40  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

before  the  plan  for  preserving  it  could  be  ma- 
tured, the  "  eternal  vigilance "  so  strenuously 
urged  by  its  master  spirit  Avas  relaxed,  and  the 
oj)portune  moment  was  seized  by  the  supporters 
of  aristocratic  government,  who  decided  the  fate 
of  that  memorable  struggle,  until  tlie  accumu- 
lating evils  of  vested  powers  in  giant  corpora- 
tions will  drive  the  people  to  another  revolution, 
unless  the  wisdom  and  resolution  of  the  present 
generation  shall,  by  peaceful  means,  avert  so 
terrible  a  calamity. 

In  1777  the  Continental  Congress  agreed  upon 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  to  secure  a  united 
resistance  to  the  measures  of  Great  Britain  in 
holding  the  colonies  in  subjection  to  her  control. 

In  the  excitement  of  war — and  during  its 
darkest  period  for  the  colonies — these  Articles 
were  framed  and  agreed  to ;  but  Avhen  the  war 
was  over,  and  the  busy  pursuits  of  industry  super- 
vened, the  vigilant  activity  and  artful  schemes 
for  aristocratic  rule  succeeded  in  substituting  in- 
stead a  system  of  government  beyond  the  power 
of  the  people  to  control. 

Among  the  leading  men  of  this  period  and  for 
this  work  was  Alexander  Hamilton,  ambitious, 
active,  energetic,  talented,  and  brave,  and  fully 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  aristocratic  supremacy, 
and  without  any  faith  in  the  people's  capacity 
for  self-sTOvernment. 


THE    FEDEr.AL    CONSTITUTION.  41 

At  the  close  of  the  war  lie  entered  into  politics 
and  became  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Fed- 
eralist, or  aristocratic,  l)arty,  the  basic  proposi- 
tion of  which  is  tiiat  "  in  all  civilized  countries 
the  peo^jle  are  naturally  divided  into  two  classes  : 
the  one,  the  few,  the  rich,  the  well-born  ;  the 
other,  the  many,  the  poor,  the  laboring  masses." 
[This  passage  is  approvingly  quoted  by  Garfield, 
and  credited  to  Hamilton.  ] 

It  will  be  remembered  that  deputies  were  sent 
to  Annapolis  in  1786  to  revise  the  Articles  of 
Confederation.  Mr.  Hamilton  was  a  deputy 
from  New  York,  and  drafted  an  address  to  the 
State,  which  led  to  the  convention  by  which  the 
Federal  Constitution  was  framed. 

"  The  prevailing  ])arty  in  the  New  York  legisla- 
ture was  little  inclined  to  any  inaterial  increase  of 
authority  of  the  Federal  (ioverninent.  Hamilton 
was  appointed  one  of  tlie  delegates  to  that  conven- 
tion to  revise  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  which 
met  at  Philadelphia  in  the  following  May.  He  had, 
however,  two  colleagues,  who  together  controlled  the 
vote  of  the  State,  of  decidedly  opposite  opinions." 
— A^nerican  Cyclopedia. 

Two  projects  were  brought  forward  in  that 
body  :  one  known  as  the  Virginia  plan,  wdiich 
contemplated  the  functions  of  a  national  govern- 
ment, with  a  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary 
of  its  own. 


42  THE    XEAV    REPUBLIC. 

Edmund  Randolph  of  Virginia  Introduced  a 
bill  early  in  the  proceedings  of  the  convention, 
providing  for  a  national  government,  but  it  under- 
went so  many  changes  by  amendment  that  he 
refused  to  support  It,  and  finally,  not  only  voted 
against  the  Constitution  on  its  final  passage,  but 
used  all  his  influence  to  jirevent  Its  ratification  in 
his  ow^n  State.  This  resolution  gave  rise  to  what 
is  known  as  the  Virginia  plan. 

Mr.  Paterson  of  New  Jersey  Introduced  a  res- 
olution likewise,  which  had  in  contemplation  the 
revision  of  the  existing  Articles  of  Confederation. 
His  resolution  having  been  rejected,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph's resolution,  which  had  lost  its  original 
character  by  amendments,  finally  grew  into  the 
present  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"  Mr.  Hamilton  set  himself  earnestly  to  work  to 
incorporate  his  views  of  government  into  the 
organic  law  of  the  nation.  As  between  the  two 
plans  above  i-eferred  to,  he  strongly  advocated  the 
former,  and  sought  to  make  it  as  strong  as  pos- 
sible. His  scheme  included  an  Assembly  to  be 
elected  by  the  people  for  three  years ;  a  Senate  to 
be  chosen  by  electors,  to  be  chosen  by  the  people, 
to  hold  office  during  good  behavior;  and  a  Gov- 
ernor chosen  also  for  good  behavior,  by  a  similar 
but  most  complicated  process.  The  Governor  was 
to  have  an  absolute  negative  on  all  laws,  and  the 
appointment  of  all  officers,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Senate.  The  Governors  of  the  States  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  General  Government,  and 


THE    FEDERAL    COXSTITUTIOX.  43  * 

were  to  have  a  negative  on  all  state  laws.  The  jiower 
of  declaring  war  and  ratifying  treaties  was  to  be 
vested  in  the  Senate.  He  insisted  in  establishing 
a  national  government  so  powerful  and  influential 
as  to  create  an  interest  in  its  support,  extensive 
and  strong  enough  to  counterbalance  the  state  gov- 
ernments and  reduce  them  to  subordinate  impor- 
tance."— American  Ci/clojyedut. 

In  tliis  scheme  we  recognize  many  important 
features  o£  the  existing  Constituticwi,  especially 
in  creating  a  Senate  and  the  manner  of  choosing 
it ;  in  tiie  Executive,  and  the  mode  of  his  elec- 
tion, his  veto  i)0vver,  and  many  other  features 
calculated  to  give  strength  to  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, as  the  immense  patronr»ge  granted  to 
officials  and  the  control  and  disposition  of  pub- 
lic domain  by  Congress  and  the  power  vested 
in  that  body  to  create  charters  for  individual 
enterprises  whereby  capital  is  amassed  in  the 
liands  of  the  few  to  control  the  industrial  inter- 
ests of  the  people.  These,  with  other  vested 
powers,  separate  the  people  from  the  government, 
and  give  it  a  power  beyond  their  control.  This 
is  virtually  a  surrender  of  popular  government 
into  the  hands  of  usurpers. 

The  "  self-evident. truths  "  enunciated  in  tlie 
Declaration  of  Independence,  which  fired  the 
hearts  of  the  patriots,  were  Ignored  and  set  aside, 
and  a  scheme  opposite  in  its  tendency  adopted  in 


44  THE    NEW    KEPUBLIC, 

tluxt  convention;  and  liberty,  wliicli  had  so  re- 
cently won  a  brilliant  victory  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle, suffered  an  ignominious  defeat  in  the  attempt 
to  secure  its  blessings  for  all  coming  time  by  the 
incorporation  of  its  principles  into  a  popular  gov- 
ernment. 

Upon  the  adjournment  of  the  convention,  Ham- 
ilton addressed  himself  with  all  his  energies  to 
secure  its  aitloption  ;  and  soon  there  appeared  a 
series  of  articles  in  a  New  York  journal  entitled 
"Federalist,"  in  •u])port  of  the  new  Constitution, 
and  against  the  various  objections  in  opposition 
to  it.  These  articles  reached  the  number  of 
sixty-five,  and  exerted  a  strong  influence  on  the 
scheme  of  government  embraced  in  the  Federal 
Constitution. 

Under  its  provisions,  he  had  the  opportunity, 
at  the  head  of  Washington's  first  cabinet,  to  set 
In  operation  his  favorite  schemes  of  government. 
Among  these  were  banks  of  Issue,  with  which  he 
had  been  connected  many  years.  He  Immedi- 
ately went  to  work  to  fund  the  national  debt  and 
establish  a  United  States  bank. 

"Both  the  funding  system  and  th6  bank  were 
denounced  'as  instruments  of  corruption,  danger- 
ous in  the  highest  degree  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  and  Hamilton  as  designing,  by  their  means, 
to  introduce  aristocracy  and  monarchy.' " — Amer- 
ican Cyclopedia. 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTIOX.  45 

He  charged  these  attacks  upon  Jefferson,  and 
urged  the  hiconsistency  of  his  hoklhig  a  phicc  in 
the  administration  which  lie  assailed.  Jefferson, 
on  finding  Hamilton's  influence  in  Washington's 
cabinet  predominant,  retired  from  it. 

James  Madison  was  a  strong  and  active  Fed- 
eralist at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  and  was  in  favor  of  vesting  Congress 
with  a  power  to  exercise  a  negative  in  all  cases 
whatever  on  the  legislative  acts  of  the  States,  "as 
heretofore  exercised  by  the  kingly  prerogative." 
He  was  a  strong  advocate  for  the  ratification  of 
the  Constitution,  and  joined  Hamilton  in  the 
authorship  of  the  series  of  articles  entitled  "  Fed- 
eralist." But  in  1792,  while  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, he  changed  his  views,  and  became  the 
avowed  leader  of  the  Republicans  ;  and  in  1798 
drew  up  the  resolutions  for  Virginia,  as  Jeffer- 
son had  for  Kentucky  in  the  same  year,  to  coun- 
teract the  tendency  of  the  alien  and  sediticion 
laws  passed  in  Adams's  administration,  known  as 
the  "  Kentucky  Resolutions." 

Robert  Morris  was  a  man  of  great  wealth 
and  a  stanch  Federalist.  When  the  first  vote 
was  taken  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
he  voted  against  it  (July  1,  1776),  and  on  its 
adoption  he  refused  to  vote,  urging  that  it  was 
premature.       He  afterward  contributed  largely 


46  THE    NEAV    REPUBLIC. 

to  the  support  of  the  war;  at  one  time  Issuing 
his  notes  to  a  large  amount,  whicli,  however,  was 
all  paid.  He  warmly  supported  liamllton  in  his 
views  of  government,  and  worked  for  the  Consti- 
tution in  the  convention,  and  for  its  ratification 
in  his  own  State. 

John  Eutledge  and  tlie  two  Pinckneys  of 
South  Carolina  were  active  and  influential  Fed- 
eralists, so  were  Governeur  Morris  and  Roger 
Sherman,  who  were  all  members  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  and  seemed  to  realize  the  ne- 
cessity of  withholding  the  control  of  the  govern- 
ment from  the  hands  of  the  people. 

It  is  important  in  this  connection  to  say  that 
these  men  were  as  much  Interested  in  the  separa- 
tion of  the  colonies  from  the  home  government 
as  any  engaged  in  the  struggle.  During  that 
struuffle  there  were  three  classes  of  men  who 
felt  a  deep  interest  in  its  outcome.  First,  the  pa- 
triots, with  the  spirit  of  liberty  glowing  in  their 
breast,  cheerfully  and  hopefully  endured  hard- 
ships, and  made  sacrifices,  deeming  nothing  too 
costly  in  exchange  for  liberty.  Second,  a  class 
of  ambitious  men  fully  imbued  with  aristocratic 
ideas,  regarding  the  English  theory  of  govern- 
ment as  the  nearest  to  perfection,  and  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  as  incapable  of  self-govern- 
ment ;  that "  the  few,  the  rich,  the  well-born,"  must 


THE    FEDERAL    COXSTITUTIOX.  47 

rule  "  the  many,  the  poor,  the  hxboring  masses." 
The  third  were  tlie  tory  chiss,  who  sympathized 
with  the  English  side  of  the  struggle,  and  secretly 
aided  them  all  in  their  power.  Their  political 
views  were  of  course  like  the  second  class ;  and 
when  England  acknowledged  the  independence 
of  the  States,  they  accepted  the  situation  and 
united  their  fortunes  with  that  class  then  known 
as  the  Federalist  party.  They  realized  the  im- 
portance of  the  issue,  and  determined — no  doubt 
with  honest  intentions — to  secure  the  fruits  of 
the  separation  by  assuming  the  i-eins  of  govern- 
ment, thereby  practically  ignoring  the  rights  of 
the  people. 

In  opposition  to  the  Federalists,  who  contended 
for  a  government  with  power  so  vested  as  to  be 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  people,  were  the  patriots, 
of  whom  Thomas  Jefferson  was  the  true  type  and 
avowed  leader,  reduced  to  a  minority  in  the  con- 
vention by  the  united  influence  and  wealth  of  the 
Federalists  and  Tories. 

The  majority  proceeded  to  set  aside  the  Arti- 
cles of  Confederation  which  they  had  been  called 
together  to  revise,  and  seizing  the  golden  oppor- 
tunity, with  closed  doors  and  secret  sessions, 
after  four  months'  of  stormy  and  angry  debate, 
brought  forth  the  body  of  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion Cthe  first  seven  articles),  and  in  the  latter 


48  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

p;u-t  of  the  year  1787  submitted  it  to  tlic  States 
for  ratification. 

In  connection  with  this  [)eriod,  tlie  following 
account  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  character,  as  fur- 
nished by  the  American  Cyclopedia,  is  here  pre- 
sented : 

"  The  character  of  Mr.  Jefferson  as  a  man  and  a 
statesman  is  easily  deduced  from  the  events  attend- 
ing his  career.  lie  was  an  original  thinker  in  every 
department  of  human  concern,  and  essentially  a 
reformer.  In  this  will  be  found  the  exj^lanation  of 
his  life.  He  had  no  respect  for  claims  of  I'ight 
founded  only  upon  prescription,  and  attached  no  de- 
cisive weight  to  authority.  In  the  General  Assembly 
under  the  Commonwealth,  he  attached  the  time- 
honored  system  of  aristocratic  and  religious  intoler- 
ance as  in  open  conflict  with  natural  right,  and  for 
that  reason  wrongful,  however  fully  acquiesced  in 
and  respected  by  preceding  generations.  This  want 
of  reverence  for  king,  parliament,  and  aristocracy 
accompanied  him  to  the  cabinet,  and  dictated  his 
opposition  to  England. 

"  He  carried  everything  to  the  test  of  abstract  rea- 
son into  matters  of  religion.  Discarding  faith  as 
unphilosophical,  he  became  an  infidel ;  thus  present- 
ing the  remarkable  spectacle  of  a  man  of  powerful 
mind  and  amiable  disposition  deeply  venerating 
the  moral  character  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
but  refusing  belief  in  his  divine  mission. 

"  In  politics,  Jefferson,  from  native  bent  of  intel- 
lect, was  the  opponent  to  strong  government,  and 
always  maintained  that  the  world  was  governed  too 
much.  He  was  in  favor  of  the  free  development  of 
the  exercise  of  human  power,  so  far  as  was  consist- 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION.  49 

ent  with  the  good  ordor  of  society,  and  a  jealous 
advocate  of  individualism.  This  fact  colored  and 
shaped  his  whole  political  theory.  The  strength 
of  his  convictions  is  obvious  in  the  nature  of  the 
changes  wliich  he  made  in  Virginia  law,  in  regard 
to  which  he  says  :  '  I  considered  four  of  these  bills, 
passed  or  reported,  as  forming  a  system  by  which 
t'very  fiber  would  be  eradicated  of  an  ancient  or  fu- 
ture aristocracy The  repeal  of  the  laws  of 

entail  would  prevent  the  accumulation  and  perpet- 
uation of  wealth  in  select  families.  The  abolition 
of  primogeniture  and  the  equal  partition  of  inher- 
itances removed  the  feudal  and  unnatural  distinc- 
tions which  made  one  member  of  the  family  rich 
and  all  the  rest  poor.  The  restoration  of  the  rights 
of  conscience  relieved  the  2)eople  of  taxation  for  the 
support  of  a  religion  not  theirs,  for  the  eEtablish- 
ment  was  truly  the  religion  of  the  rich.'  From 
the  prevailing  character  of  Virginia  society  at  that 
period,  no  measures  could  have  been  more  revolu- 
tionary. 

"  His  aim  was  to  overthrow  the  old  domination 
of  the  ruling  classes  and  raise  the  people.  He  car- 
ried the  same  principle  to  the  study  of  the  federal 
compact.  Once  convinced  that  the  States-rights 
doctrine  of  restriction  was  the  true  theory  of  gov- 
ernment, he  fought  for  it  with  persistent  energy. 
Thus  commenced  on  the  threshold  of  his  entrance 
into  the  cabinet  the  long  struggle  against  Hamil- 
ton, the  Federal  champion.  '  The  party  which  sup- 
ported the  Federal  Constitution,'  said  Jefferson, '  was 
aristocratic  and  monarchical,  desirous  to  draw  over 
us  the  substance  as  they  have  already  drawn  the 
forms  of  the  British  government.'  .... 

"  In  social  life  he  faithfully  carried  out  his  demo- 
cratic i^rinciples.     Born  in  a  class  which  then  en- 


60 


THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 


joyed  a  prestige  and  authority  resembling  that  of 
the  higher  castes  of  India,  ho  discarded  every  ad- 
vantage which  his  birthright  gave  liim,  and  mingled 
familiarly  with  the  common  people,  as  their  equal, 

and  no  more He  was  naturally  a  democrat, 

and  held  as  a  radical  doctrine  that  one  man  is  no 
more  than  another — or  rather,  deserves  no  higher 
i:)rivileges. 

"  He  was  opposed  to  the  forms  and  ceremonies  that 
characterized  his  pi'edecessors  in  office,  and  abol- 
ished them  to  a  very  gi-eat  extent,  and  aimed  to  do 
his  work  in  a  common-sense  way  and  without  osten- 
tation. A  committee  had  usually  been  appointed 
to  infoi'ra  the  President  of  his  election ;  but  Jeffer- 
son declared  it  was  more  in  consonance  with  the 
simplicity  of  rej^ublican  institutions  to  communicate 
the  intelligence  through  the  common  post-office. 
....  Pie  was  regarded  as  the  epitome  and  incarna- 
tion of  democracy  as  opposed  to  the  old  world  of 
aristocracy.  In  the  j^lain,  good-humored  man  whom 
all  might  approach,  clad  in  every-day  garments, 
and  scarcely  distinguishable  from  an  honest  yeo- 
man, the  masses  discovered  a  delightful  contrast  to 
the  powdered  and  stately  'nabobs'  of  the  past 

"  In  his  retirement,  Jefferson  was  as  powerful  as 
in  office.  His  hand  was  often  felt  as  decisively,  and 
his  opinions,  instilled  into  active  minds  holding 
high  i^ositions,  became  not  seldom  the  ruling  influ- 
ences in  public  affairs 

"  On  the  question  of  slavery,  which  arose  two  or 
three  times  during  his  career,  his  views  are  well 
known.  He  regarded  the  institution  as  a  moral 
and  political  evil :  as  a  moral  evil  because  it  was  re- 
pugnant to  his  cherished  convictions  of  the  equal 
rights  of  man  ;  and  as  a  political  evil  from  the  as- 
sistance it  offered  to  the  old  feudal  svstem  of  aris- 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION,  51 

tocracy  wliicli  be  opposed  ;  and  would  most  gladly 
have  abolished  the  institution. 

"  He  said  that  the  people  would  remain  virtuous 
as  long  as  agriculture  is  the  principal  pursuit,  which 
will  be  the  case  while  there  remain  vacant  lands  in 
America,  '  When  we  get  lulled  upon  one  another 
in  large  cities,  as  in  Europe,  we  shall  become  cor- 
rupt as  in  Europe,  and  go  to  eating  one  another  as 
they  do  there.'  ,  ,  ,  ,  He  was  a  tender  husband 
and  father,  a  warm  friend  and  delightful  host." — 
American  Cyclopedia,  loc.  cit. 

Had  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  was  then  in  Paris  as 
Minister  to  France,  been  a  member  of  that  con- 
vention, there  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  would  have 
been  materially  changed.  It  is  to  be  sincerely 
regretted  that  at  this  important  juncture  in  our 
national  affairs  his  commanding  influence  could 
not  have  been  brougiit  to  bear,  and  his  acknowl- 
edged ability  exerted  at  a  time  and  on  an  occasion 
the  most  needed, 

Edmund  Randolph,  with  a  view  of  remedy- 
ing the  defects  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
early  in  the  session  introduced  a  resolution  con- 
templating a  plan  for  a  national  government 
clothed  with  the  necessary  sovereign  functions  ; 
but  by  "  amendments  "  it  was  soon  transformed 
into  an  instrument  that  he  not  only  relinquished, 
but  combated  with  all  his  energy,  not  only  in  the 
convention,  but  in  its  ratification  by  his  own  State. 

George  Mason  took  an  active  part  in  the  con- 


52  THE    NEW    REPUI5LIC. 

ventlon,  and  always  upon  the  llbei'al  and  demo- 
cratic side.  He  maintained  that  no  republican 
government  could  stand  without  the  confidence 
of  the  people,  and  that  confidence  could  only  be 
secured  by  a  direct  election  by  the  people.  In 
this  manner  he  favored  tlie  election  of  the  Presi- 
dent, and  for  one  term  only. 

"He  opj>osed  the  proposition  to  require  a  prop- 
erty qualification  from  voters,  and  spoke  with  great 
enex-gy  against  the  clause  in  the  Constitution  whiuh 
prohibited  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  till  1808, 
declaring  that  slave?  y  was  a  source  of  national 
weakness  and  demoralization,  and  it  was  therefore 
essential  that  the  General  Government  should  have 
power  to  prevent  its  increase.  In  some  of  his 
attempts  to  render  tlie  Constitution  more  demo- 
cratic, Mr.  Mason  was  defeated  in  the  conven- 
tion, and  when  that  instrument  was  completed 
he  refused  to  sign  it,  declaring  his  apprehensions 
that  it  would  result  in  monarchy  or  tyrannical 
aristocracy.  He  was  especially  dissatisfied  witli 
the  extended  and  indefinite  powers  conferred  on 
Congress  and  the  Executive." — American  Cyclope- 
dia^ loc.  cit. 

Subsequent  experience  has  shown  the  sagacity 
and  foresight  of  this  eminent  statesman,  for  we 
surely  have  a  "  tyrannical  aristocracy." 

George  Wythe  joined  his  colleague  in  his 
efforts  to  defeat  the  encroachments  of  aristocratic 
ideas,  and  to  support  popular  government. 

Elbridoe  Gerry  of  Massachusetts  united  his 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTIOX.  53 

powers  with  the  little  band  of  Patriots  to  resist 
aristocratic  rule,  and  if  possible  to  secure  the 
blessinors  of  a  free  n;overnment.  He  was  untir- 
ing  in  his  zeal  and  devotion,  and  gave  to  the  cause 
all  the  energies  of  his  soul. 

Jonx  Lansing  and  Robert  Yates  of  New 
York  worked  and  voted  against  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution, and  when  it  came  before  their  State  for 
ratification,  they  were  found  still  contending  for 
the  people's  rights. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  mention  the  names  of 
the  remaining  number  of  delegates  who  took 
part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  but 
refused  to  sign  it.  They  were  Caleb  Stroxg, 
Oliver  Elsavortii,  "William  C.  Houston, 
John  F.  Mercer,  Luther  Martin,  James 
McClurg,  Alexander  Martin,  William  R. 
Davie,  William  Pierce,  and  William  Hous- 
ton. The  names  of  these  sixteen  illustrious 
men  will  serve  as  a  protest  to  all  coming  gener- 
ations against  the  overthrow  of  popular  govern- 
ment by  substituting  an  organic  law  which,  in 
the  language  of  Jefferson,  "  was  aristocratic  and 
monarchical,  desirous  to  draw  over  us  the  sub- 
stance as  they  have  the  forms  of  the  British 
Government." 

The  power  emanating  from  the  people  is  vested 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  beyond   their  control, 


64  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

because  the  majority  of  that  convention  had  no 
faith  in  the  people,  and  were  determined  not  to 
trust  them. 

The  Constitution,  which  only  assures  the  name 
of  a  republic,  is  made  the  instrument  by  which 
the  people  are  held  in  bondage. 

The  cause  which  inspired  a  heroic  people, 
involving  the  dearest  and  most  sacred  rights  of 
humanity,  was  defeated  in  the  formation  and 
adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  The  scenes 
of  sanguinai-y  strife,  of  suffering  and  sacrifice, 
must  be  re-enacted  on  a  still  grander  scale  ere 
the  battle  for  freedom  is  won,  unless  the  power 
of  right  wielded  by  the  potency  of  justice  is 
evoked  for  a  peaceful  and  enduring  victory. 

We  will  close  this  brief  account  of  this  mem- 
orable and  important  struggle  for  a  popular  gov- 
ernment, which  resulted  in  a  defeat  of  the  people, 
in  the  language  of  a  prominent  American  histo- 
rian : 

«  On  the  17th  of  September,  1787,  the  grand  ques- 
tion finally  came  up  for  discussion.  The  Constitu- 
tion was  then  signed  by  thirty-nine  of  the  fifty-five 
members.  It  was  next  submitted  to  Congress,  and 
by  them  submitted  to  the  State  legislatures,  who 
were  invited  to  call  conventions  to  take  it  into  con- 
sideration. The  stipulation  was,  that  it  should 
come  into  operation  as  soon  as  nine  States  ratified 
it ;  but  this  was  a  matter  of  considerable  difficulty. 
"In  1787,  it  was  adopted  in  conventions  unani- 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTIOX.  55 

raously  by  Georgia,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware,  and 
by  large  majorities  in  Pennsylvania,  Connecticut, 
Maryland,  and  South  Carolina.  Two,  however, 
were  still  wanting  before  it  could  be  acted  on ; 
hence,  the  Massachusetts  convention,  which  met  in 
the  beginning  of  1788,  was  viewed  with  intense  in- 
terest. Its  fate  there  appeared  doubtful  from  local 
feelings  and  discontents.  Hancock,  who  had  been 
so  conspicuous  through  the  Revolution,  strenuously 
opposed  it  without  the  admission  of  certain  pro- 
posed amendments,  by  which  State  rights  might  be 
more  fully  guarded.  It  was  supported  by  Fisher 
Ames  [a  prominent  Federalist],  and  finally  carried 
by  the  small  majority  of  nine  out  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty-five  votes. 

"In  Xew  Hampshire,  the  greater  number  of  dele- 
gates came  instructed  to  vote  against  it,  but  after 
an  adjournment  a  majority  of  eleven  was  at  last 
procured. 

"The  requisite  number  of  nine  States  had  thus 
been  obtained,  yet  there  were  still  wanting  the  im- 
portant States  of  Virginia,  New  York,  and  North 
Carolina,  without  which  it  could  scarcely  be 
brought  into  action.  In  the  first,  the  contest  was 
long  and  fervid,  and  the  displays  of  oratory  are  said 
to  have  been  greater  than  any  ever  yet  made  in 
America.  Madison,  who  at  that  time  was  a  Feder- 
alist, took  the  lead  in  support  of  the  measure ;  while 
Patrick  Henry  assailed  it  with  eloquence  almost  un- 
rivaled. He  denounced  it  as  a  revolution  more  rad- 
ical than  that  which  had  separated  America  from 
Britain.  The  convention  had  been  delegated  solely 
to  amend  the  old  federation,  instead  of  which  they 
had  brought  forward  a  great  consolidated  govern- 
ment, vesting  in  it  the  whole  prerogatives,  and 
leaving   to  the  States  merely  the  pooi'-laws,  roads, 


56  THE    NEW    RErUBLlC. 

bridges,  and  other  trilling  concerns.  In  the  warmth 
of  debate  he  seemed  to  threaten  resistance  if  the 
motion  were  carried ;  yet  at  last  declared  tliat  even 
then  he  would  remain  a  peaceful  citizen,  only  de- 
voting his  head,  his  hand,  and  his  heart  to  obtain 
redress  in  a  constitutional  manner.  The  measure 
was  finally  carried  by  a  vote  of  eighty-eight  to 
eighty. 

"New  York,  thus  left  nearly  alone,  could  only 
persevere  at  the  cost  of  throwing  herself  entirely 
out  of  tlie  Union.  Yet  though  the  measure  was 
supported  by  Jay,  Hamilton,  and  Livingston,  states- 
men of  the  highest  character,  it  was  carried  only 
with  a  majority  of  five,  and  with  the  demand  for 
the  most  extensive  amendments." 

Within  a  year  from  the  time  the  old  Congress 
declared  the  Constitution  ratified  and  in  force,  ten 
amendments  were  added;  nine  of  which  are  for 
the  protection  of  personal  liberty,  and  the  tentli 
specifies  the  limit  of  federal  powers,  and  guaran- 
tees all  power  not  delegated  by  the  Constitution 
as  belonging  "  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to 
the  people." 

The  observant  reader  of  the  early  history  of 
our  o-overnment  will  notice  the  sentiment  of  the 
leading  statesmen  in  regard  to  the  question  of 
slavery. 

Thomas  Jefferson  introduced  a  bill  in  the  Vir- 
ginia legislature  to  abolish  slavery  in  that  State, 
which  was  lost  by  a  single  vote,  and  in  Congress 
he  introduced  a  measure  looking  to  final  emanci- 
pation In  1800. 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTIOX.  57 

Mr.  Mason's  views  have  already  been  noticed, 
and  tlie  feeling  among  the  Republicans  and  some 
of  the  Federalists  was  in  favor  of  manumission. 

But  slavery  was  incorporated  into  the  Consti- 
tution, and  became  a  part  of  the  government, 
with  results  calamitous  beyond  language  to  ex- 
press or  human  thought  to  conceive.  "  The  Civil 
War  placed  the  people  in  the  condition  out  of 
which  it  took  the  slave,  and  transferred  their 
masters  from  the  Southern  plantations  to  the 
factory  pens,  machine-shops,  mining  pits,  and 
farms  of  the  whole  country. 

The  war  was  the  result  of  constitutional  pro- 
visions, but  the  cause  of  it  was  removed  by  vio- 
lating them.  It  makes  no  provisions  against 
secession,  and  the  first  advocates  of  it  were  the 
Federalists  of  New  England.  As  early  as  1811, 
Josiah  Quincy  of  Massachusetts  declared  that  if 
Louisiana  was  admitted  with  slavery,  it  would 
be  good  cause  for  the  Northern  States  to  with- 
draw from  the  Union.  Mr.  Poindexter  of  Lou- 
isiana called  him  to  order,  and  demanded  his 
language  to  be  put  in  writing,  which  was  done. 
The  Speaker  sustained  the  point  of  order,  and 
Mr.  Quincy  appealed  to  the  House,  and  upon  a 
vote  being  taken  the  Speaker  was  overruled — 
thus  showing  the  sentiment  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives at  that  time  to  be  in  favor  of  secession. 
4* 


68  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

The  sole  object  of  the  Hartford  Convention, 
held  by  the  New  England  Federalists,  was  to 
take  measures  for  secession,  on  account  of  the 
obstructions  to  their  commerce  by  the  necessities 
of  war  by  a  Republican  administration. 

It  is  by  powers  vested  in  the  Constitution  that 
the  curse  of' corporate  rule  has  corrupted  tlic  pub- 
lic service,  and  "  established  dominion  over  mon- 
ey, over  transportation,  over  invention,  and  over 
land  and  labor." 

The  control  given  to  monopolies  by  its  author- 
ity or  permission  will  grow  still  stronger;  and 
the  liberties  of  the  people  are  becoming,  day  by 
day,  less  possible.  It  is  the  instrument  of  tyran- 
ny and  oppression,  and  by  its  provisions  the  ma- 
chinery of  government  is  made  to  rob,  plunder, 
impoverish,  and  enslave,  instead  of  regulating  the 
rights  of  the  people  and  protecting  them  in  their 
free  exercise. 

The  facts  of  this  history  are  well  summed  up 
in  the  following  propositions  by  L.  A.  Fisher  of 
Morris,  111.     In  a  letter  to  the  author,  he  says  : 

"If  I  read  your  circular  correctly,  your  object  is 
to  educate  the  people  of  this  country  in  the  funda- 
mental facts  of  national  reform  guaranteed  to  the 
American  people  in  that  compact  of  Union,  with 
reference  to  a  restoration  of  the  nation  to  its  origi- 
nal republican  base.  If  I  mistake  not  the  spirit  of 
yonr  field  of  labor,  it  comprises  the  following  jjrop- 
ositions : 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTIOX.  59 

"  1.  That  the  common  blessings  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence are  the  indisputable  equal  right  of  all  men 
and  women  to  enjoy. 

'•  2.  That  the  tlenial  of  this  right  by  the  Crown 
of  Great  Britain  constituted  the  main  points  of  the 
struggle  between  the  mother  country  and  the  colo- 
nists. 

"  3.  That  in  the  midst  of  this  struggle,  termed 
the  Revolution,  the  thirteen  colonies  found  that  to 
carry  on  the  war  successfully  it  was  indispensable 
that  they  unite  in  one  body  and  work  under  one 
head. 

"  4.  That  such  confederation  was  effected  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1776,  on  terms  of  agreement  set  forth 
in  an  arranged  compact,  and  witnessed  by  the  auto- 
graph signatures  of  the  contracting  parties. 

"5.  That  said  act  of  confederation  was  to  be 
perpetual,  and  form  a  nationality  and  government 
in  keeping  with  the  terms  of  this  confederation, 
which  guaranteed  to  every  American  citizen  an 
equal  and  undisputed  share  in  all  of  nature's  boun- 
ties, regarded  as  'endowments  of  the  Creator.' 

"  6.  That  to  accomplish  the  ends  of  this  compact 
they  saw  no  alternative  but  to  cut  loose  from  the 
parent  stock  and  set  up  for  themselves ;  and  as  a 
matter  of  necessity  this  determination  Avas  made 
part  of  the  contract. 

"  7.  That  such  confederation  should  be  regarded 
as  perpetual,  and  was  so  intended,  stii)ulated,  and 
specified,  so  long  as  the  terms  of  confederation  were 
sacredly  regarded,  forming  a  corporate  national 
base  under  tlie  title  of  '  The  United  States  of  North 
America,'  and  at  the  time  assuming  all  the  powers, 
rights,  and  immunities  of  nationality,  and  were  so 
regarded  by  the  nations  of  Europe. 

"  8.   That  the  terms  of  said  compact  minutely  and 


60  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

definitely  specify  that  the  administration  of  the  re- 
sultant executive  department  of  said  nationality 
shall  be  in  strict  unison  with  the  charter  stipula- 
tions aforesaid,  and  that  any  deviation  from  the 
spirit  or  letter  of  said  guaranties  shall  nullify  the 
contract  at  the  option  of  the  aggrieved  party. 

"  9.  That  as  a  matter  of  course  the  executive  de- 
tails of  government  were  to  be  instituted  in  the 
usual  manner,  through  representative  legislative 
action.  When  within  one  year,  1777,  such  effort 
was  made  under  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country, 
in  the  presence  of  an  overpowering  foreign  enemy 
and  a  large  influential  tory  class  of  their  own  citi- 
zens, in  their  midst  in  full  sympathy  with  the  enemy 
and  totally  opjiosed  to  the  independent  national 
action  already  taken,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  first 
attemi:)t  to  institute  the  executive  details  of  govern- 
ment should  prove  a  failure. 

"  10.  And  further,  if  I  read  your  programme  cor- 
rectly, your  object  is  to  enlighten  the  people  on  the 
crookedness  of  the  administration  after  peace  was 
established  with  England.  That  a  convention  was 
soon  called  at  Philadelphia,  ostensibly  to  amend  the 
first  attempt  at  framing  a  constitution.  At  Avhich 
time  the  soldiery  were  returned  to  society,  and  bus- 
ily engaged  with  the  people  in  the  arts  of  peace,  in 
restoring  the  waste  of  an  eight  years'  war,  the  aris- 
tocratic and  tory  class  were  left  to  manage  the 
details  of  government  to  suit  their  OAvn  tory  ijrocliv- 
ities;  and  that  they  stealthily  conceived  the  expert 
scheme  of  reversing  the  patriot  ardor  as  to  nullify 
all  the  essential  points  for  which  the  rebellion  was 
inaugurated,  except  the  mere  fact  of  independence, 
and  thereby  secure  all  of  those  royal  prerogatives 
inherited  from  the  British  Crown.  This  tory  class 
found  it  convenient  at  this  time  to  sufficiently  pack 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION.  61 

tne  convention  with  their  own  ordei*,  to  carry  its 
deliberations, 

"11.  That  to  this  end,  when  met,  their  first  act 
was  to  form  themselves  into  a  secret  conclave, 
knowing  that  if  their  attempts  to  change  the  na- 
tional base  from  a  republic  to  a  mere  constitu- 
tional government  should  get  to  the  ears  of  the 
busy  i^atriots,  their  scheme  would  not  carry.  Hence, 
the  fifth  rule  in  the  order  of  business  was,  '  That 
nothing  said  or  done  in  this  convention  should  be 
communicated  outside.'  This  done,  the  tory  ele- 
ment prevailing,  the  attempt  at  revision  was  no 
longer  thought  of ;  and,  ignoring  all  previous  action 
of  a  national  character,  they  went  to  work  as  though 
the  United  States  had  no  previous  existence,  and 
they  had  met  to  give  it  birth  and  executive  being. 

"  12.  That  after  four  months  of  secret  delibera- 
tion, our  present  Constitution  was  formed — except 
the  amendments — and  brought  forward  for  the  pop- 
ular patronage.  The  result  has  proved  that  this 
tory  convention  understood  their  purpose,  and  were 
adroit  manipulators  in  changing  the  order  of  na- 
tionality and  government,  that  not  a  vestige  of  the 
original  republic  now  remains." 


62  THE    NEW    KEPUI3LIC. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    ARTICLES    OF    CONFEDERATION    ANI>   THE 
FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION. 

"  With  ti'eacherous  art  aud  traitor  hand 
Ambitious  tyrants  rule  the  laud." 

All  things  useful  are  liable  to  abuse  ;  the  evils 
of  abuse  are  commensurate  with  the  benefits  of 
their  use.  The  benefits  secured  by  good  govern- 
ment are  only  measured  by  the  evils  of  bad  gov- 
ernment. How  much  of  the  one  we  may  enjoy, 
or  of  the  other  we  may  suffer,  will  depend  on  the 
degree  of  wisdom  the  people  bring  to  bear  in 
their  political  affairs.  The  experience  of  a  hun- 
dred years  ought  to  lead  to  certain  success.  In 
former  ages  rulers  sought  power  by  force  of  arms 
and  intrigues  of  courts  ;  but  the  arts  of  modern 
diplomacy,  "  bossism,"  lobby  ism,  and  judicial 
legerdemain  have  superseded  the  old  methods 
with  an  improvement  that  does  credit  to  the  new 
school  of  politicians. 

Our  patriot  fathers  gave  us  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  in  it  set  forth  the  principles 
of  a  true  republic.  The  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion gave  us,  for  a  brief  period  and  in  an  imper- 


THE    ARTICLES    OE    CONEEDEllATIOX.         08 

feet  manner,  ii  republican  form  of  government. 
They  gave  us  the  name,  United  States  of 
America,  under  the  form  of  a  compact  govern- 
ment. 

Eacli  State  retained  its  sovereignty.  AH 
bodies,  individual  and  political,  must  exercise  sov- 
ereignty within  their  own  spheres,  for  upon  it 
unity  depends.  Local  jurisdictions  are  sovereign 
in  their  local  affairs.  So  are  county  and  state. 
The  Articles  of  Confederation  did  not  confer 
national  sovereignty  in  the  exercise  of  those  func- 
tions most  essential  to  nation:d  unity  and  inde- 
pendence. The  Confederation  was  a  league  of 
friendship  and  for  common  defense,  without 
recognizing  the  necessity  for  a  sovereign  power 
to  be  exercised  in  their  common  interests  and  for 
their  common  good.  A  few  years'  experience 
showed  the  defects  ;  the  results  of  an  attempt  to 
remedy  them  have  already  been  shown. 

These  Articles  entitled  the  citizens  of  any 
State  "  to  all  the  privileges  and  ima)unities  of 
free  citizens  in  the  several  States,"  and  the  privi- 
leges of  trade  and  commerce, "  subject  to  the 
same  duties,  impositions,  and  restrictions  as  the 
inhabitants  thereof  respectively,"  and  "  the  right 
of  requisition  in  case  of  fugitives." 

The  delco-ates  "  in  Congress  assembled  "  were 
sent  annually  by  the  several  States,  not  less  than 


G4  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

two  nor  more  than  seven, "  with  a  power  reserved 
to  each  State  to  recall  its  delegates  or  any  of 
them  at  any  time  within  the  year,  and  send 
others  in  their  stead  for  the  remainder  of  the 
year." 

No  person  was  capable  ^f  being  a  delegate  for 
more  than  three  years  in  any  term  of  six  years. 

Each  State  was  to  maintain  its  own  delegates 
in  every  meeting  of  the  States. 

Freedom  of  speech  and  debate  was  guaranteed 
while  in  the  discharge  of  their  official  duties,  and 
adequate  protection  to  their  persons. 

These  provisions  are  in  accordance  with  the 
true  principles  of  republican  government.  Repre- 
sentation in  the  national  legislative  body  is  prop- 
erly limited  and  regulated.  The  reservation  of 
power  to  recall  public  servants  and  send  others 
in  their  stead  is  most  salutary  and  important. 

It  is  an  essential  provision,  based  on  the  right 
of  the  employer  to  hold  his  employee  responsible. 
Another  provision  is  made  by  which  the  dele- 
gates are  maintained  by  their  resjDCCtive  States. 
The  compensation  of  officers  should  be  deter- 
mined by  the  people,  and  specified  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  their  government — an  oversight,  not 
one  of  the  least  of  the  defects  of  the  federal 
organic  law. 

Power  is   delegated  to  be  exercised   for  the 


THE    ARTICLES    OF    CONFEDERATION.        65 

people's  benefit,  and  should  at  all  times  be  under 
their  supervision  and  control,  and  returned  at 
stated  periods  to  the  people,  by  the  expiration  of 
the  term  of  office. 

All  the  foi'ces  in  nature  move  in  cycles.  The 
seasons  come  and  go ;  the  mists  from  the  ocean's 
bosom  are  lifted  by  atmospheric  pressure,  and 
wafted  by  the  winds  to  the  mountains  summits. 
They  return  in  rivulets  and  streams  to  the  soui'ce 
from  whence  they  came,  fertilizing  the  soil  and 
beautifying  the  face  of  nature. 

So  of  moral,  social,  and  political  forces  in  their 
rounds,  peaceful,  quiet,  free.  In  a  well-regu- 
lated government,  with  the  expiration  of  the  term 
(if  office  the  power  delegated  flows  back  to  the 
people  ;  but  when  no  provision  is  made  for  such 
return,  and  power  is  suffered  to  be  vested, 
retained,  and  exercised  for  the  benefit  of  a  privi- 
leged class,  its  return  is  sure,  nevertheless.  It  is 
only  delayed,  yet  when  it  comes,  like  the  escape 
of  pent-up  waters,  it  brings  violence  and  dt  Hruc- 
tion  in  its  course.  , 

Revolution  is  the  natural  order  of  things,  hoih 
in  the  domain  of  the  material  and  moral  world, 
and  the  law  is  alike  in  both.  The  normal  con- 
dition is  FREEDOM.  All  obstructions  and  inter- 
ruptions produce  violence  alike  in  both.  Com- 
mon sense  and  experience  would  dictate  measures 


66  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

for  the  peaceful  return  of  power  delegated  to  the 
[)eople's  representatives  ;  for  it  will  come,  peace- 
fully if  the  people  are  wise;  otherwise,  inspired 
by  the  most  malignant  passions,  it  will  come  by 
the  torch  and  the  bayonet. 

Provisions  were  made  in  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation for  mutual  defense,  and  forbidding 
alliances  of  the  States  in  their  sovereignty  with 
foreign  powers ;  for  organizing  land  forces  by 
the  States,  reserving  to  them  the  right  to  appoint 
all  officers  below  the  rank  of  colonel.  All 
charges  of  war  and  other  expenses  for  common 
defense  were  to  be  defrayed  out  of  the  common 
treasury,  "  which  shall  be  supplied  by  the  sev- 
eral States  in  the  proportion  of  all  land  within 
each  State  granted  to  or  surveyed  for  any  per- 
son, and  such  land  and  the  buildings  and  improve- 
ments thereon  shall  be  estimated  according  to 
such  mode  as  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled  shall  from  time  to  time  direct  and 
appoint."  The  taxes  for  paying  that  propor- 
tion was  to  be  laid  and  levied  by  the  author- 
ity and  direction  of  the  legislatures  of  the  sev- 
eral States  within  the  time  agreed  upon  by  the 
United  States  in  Congress  assembled. 

Provisions  for  regulating  all  international  mat- 
ters, granting  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  in 
times  of   peace,  appointing  courts  for  receiving 


THE    ARTICLES    OF    CONFEDEKATIOX.        67 

and  determining  final  appeals  in  all  cases  of  cap- 
tures ;  and  also  the  last  resort  on  appeal  in  all 
disputes  and  differences  between  States  in  regard 
to  boundaries,  "  or  an}'  other  cause  whatever," 
prescribing  the  method,  which  was  by  arbitra- 
tion. 

"  The  United  States  in  Congress  assembled 
shall  also  have  the  sole  and  exclusive  right  and 
power  of  regulating  the  alloy  and  value  of  coin  ^ 
struck  by  their  own  authority  or  that  of  the 
respective  States,"  and  "  to  emit  bills  of  credit."' 
Subsequent  experience  has  shown  that  liad  Con- 
gress issued  its  notes  with  the  promise  to  receive 
them  in  payment  of  all  government  dues,  instead 
of  a  promise  to  pay  in  silver  coin  for  public  ser- 
vice, they  would  have  remained  at  par  with  such 
coin  as  long  as  the  government  existed.  In  1811 
such  notes  wei'C  issued  which  maintained  their 
value  with  gold  and  silver,  based  on  their  legal 
tender  for  public  due?  only,  notwithstanding  all 
the  efforts  of  the  bankers  and  money-dealers  to 
drive  them  out  of  circulation.  And  all  subse- 
quent issues  of  that  character  have  maintained  a 
par  value,  with  one  slight  exception. 

Had  such  provision  been  made  no  financial 
difficulties  would  have  arisen.  The  pressure  that 
moved  to  the  call  of  a  convention  for  a  I'cvision 
of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  arose  from  this 


68  THE    NLW    REniBLIC. 

deficiency,  and  no  doubt  would  have  been  reme- 
died, had  the  Republican  party  been  successful  in 
securing  a  majority  of  delegates  of  their  party  to 
that  convention.  Indeed,  Edmund  Randolph,  a 
strong  and  uncompromising  Republican,  moved 
for  national  sovereignty  by  which  such  measures 
could  be  carried  out;  but,  as  has  been  seen  his 
plans  were  defeated. 

The  Articles  of  Confederation  provided  for  the 
appointment  by  Congress  of  ''one  of  their  num- 
ber to  preside,  provided  that  no  person  be  al- 
lowed to  serve  in  the  office  of  President  more 
than  one  year  in  any  term  of  three  years,"  and 
to  adjourn  from  place  to  place.  Congress,  un- 
der the  Articles,  was  only  a  deliberative  body, 
charged  with  certain  specified  functions,  dele- 
gated by  the  States  for  their  safety  and  welfare. 
Every  State  was  pledged  "to  abide  by  the  de- 
terminations of  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  which  by  this  Confederation  are  sub- 
mitted to  them.  And  the  Articles  of  Confeder- 
ation "  shall  be  inviolably  observed  by  every 
State,  and  the  Union  shall  he  perpetual: 

"  And  we  do  further  solemnly  plight  and  en- 
gage the  faith  of  our  respective  constituents,  that 
they  shall  abide  by  the  determinations  in  Congress 
assembled  on  all  questions  which  by  the  said 
Confederation  are  submitted  to  them,   and  that 


THE    ARTICLES    OF    CONFEDERATION.         69 

the  Articles  thereof  shall  be  inviolably  observed 
by  the  States  we  res2)ectively  represent,  and  that 
the  Union  shall  be  perpetual." 

Thus,  the  first  effort  for  the  realization  of  the 
aspirations  and  long-cherished  hopes  of  the  op- 
])ressed  of  every  land  was  made  on  American 
soil. 

This  immortal  document  was  signed  by  forty- 
eight  members  of  the  old  Continental  Congress, 
on  the  9th  day  of  July,  1778,  without  a  dissent- 
ing voice;  among  whom  were  the  most  active, 
daring,  and  uncompromising  of  the  patriot  he- 
roes of  the  Revolution  ;  while  only  thirty-nine  of 
the  fifty-five  signed  the  Federal  Constitution,  and 
sixteen  opposed  it.  Only  three  of  the  signers  of 
the  Declaration  signed  the  Constitution — one  of 
whom,  Benjamin  Franklin,  did  so  under  protest ; 
Avhile  sixteen  of  them  signed  the  Articles  of 
Confederation. 

Had  the  Articles  of  Confederation  been  so 
amended  as  to  have  consolidated  their  power  by 
conferring  sovereignty  upon  the  United  States, 
with  provisions  for  carrying  out  republican  prin- 
ciples, no  one  could  tell  what  the  results  would 
have  been.  No  United  States  bank  would  have 
been  established  on  the  English  system  of  specie 
basis,  which,  once  getting  a  foothold,  has  enabled 
the  bankers  to  control  the  finances  of  the  coun- 
try. 


70  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

No  land  tenures  by  wliicli  the  national  domain 
is  being  rapidly  absorbed  for  S2)eculation  and  mo- 
nopoly, thus  reducing  the  people  to  a  condition 
of  tenantry ;  no  legislative  system  by  which  an 
aristocratic  Senate  tJiwarts  the  people's  will,  and 
secures  class  legislation  for  the  favored  few ;  no 
scheming  devices  by  which  law  has  become  the 
tyrant  instead  of  the  protector. 

No  executive  system  vesting  in  its  chief  offi- 
cer a  power  gi'eater  than  that  of  the  English 
monarch  ;  with  an  army  of  supporters  a  hundred 
thousand  strong — a  power  wholly  beyond  the 
control  of  the  people,  and  utterly  indifferent  to 
their  welfare. 

No  judiciary  system  borrowed  from  Great 
Britain,  with  its  hot-bed  of  corruption ;  its  intri- 
cate, costly,  dilatory,  and  uncertain  administra- 
tion of  law,  to  say  nothing  of  justice,  with  its 
vast  army  of  trained  and  skilled  professionals. 
Whatever  judiciary  system  would  have  been 
adopted,  it  certainly  would  not  have  been  one 
originating  in  the  feudal  ages  to  serve  the  pur- 
poses of  monarchy,  but  no  doubt  would  have 
been  one  subject  to  modification  and  control  by 
the  people. 

No  monopolies  with  their  blighting  effects  on 
industry ;  creating  poverty,  degradation,  and 
crime  ;  despotism,  avaricious,  unscrupulous,  am- 


THE    ARTICLES    OF    COXFEDERATIOX.         71 

bitious,  and  relentless,  by  which  capital  is  fostered 
and  protected   and  labor  debased  and  despoiled. 

These  were  never  contemplated,  nor  even 
dreamed  of,  as  the  outcome  of  that  memorable 
struggle  for  independence  and  freedom ;  but  were 
the  very  i*esults  they  strove  so  hard  to  prevent. 
That  struggle  must  be  renewed.  Happily,  we 
have  the  ballot  yet,  and  this  must  be  the  instru- 
mentality by  which  our  independence  and  liberty 
are  to  be  gained. 

In  contrast  Avith  the  form  and  spirit  of  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  a  review  of  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution  is  presented.  The  burden  of 
effort  by  "eminent  constitutional  lawyers,"  as 
Judge  Story,  Daniel  Webster,  and  others,  has 
been  to  make  it  conform  to  "  common  law  "  ;  but 
so  many-sided,  complicated,  and  j^rofoundly  intri- 
cate are  the  subtleties  that  the  o-reatest  g-enius  of 
any  age  or  country  is  unable  to  cope  with  them, 
and  we  have  questions  of  "  constitutional  law " 
that  will  remain  forever  unsettled. 

A  constitution  that  requires  the  talent  of  a 
Webster  to  interpret  is  not  suitable  for  the  peo- 
ple, for  a  thorough  comprehension  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  that  enter  into  the  structure  of 
a  popular  government  is  essential  to  such  gov- 
ernment, and  were  no  other  objection  open  to  it, 
that  alone  would  condemn  it.     But  aside  from 


72  THE    ^'EW    KEPUBLIC. 

this,  there  arc  many  other  serious  and  fatalones. 
The  most  important  are  here  enumerated. 

It  vests  powers  in  the  various  governmental 
departments  beyond  the  reach  and  control  of  the 
people,  thus  changing  the  form  of  government 
to  a  constitutional  aristocracy.  Ambitious  and 
designing  men  seek  positions  at  the  heads  of 
these  departments,  and  thus  exercise  the  func- 
tions of  government  in  their  own  interest  and  for 
their  sole  benefit. 

It  complicates  the  legislative  system  by  creat- 
ing a  senatorial  branch,  and  rendering  the  elec- 
tion of  Senators  impossible  by  a  popular  vote. 
There  can  be  no  advantage  in  two  distinct 
branches  of  one  body. 

"  The  objections  against  two  Houses  are,  first, 
that  there  is  an  inconsistency  in  any  part  of  a 
whole  legislature  coming  to  a  final  determination 
by  a  vote  on  any  matter  whilst  that  witter  Avith  re- 
spect to  that  lohole  is  yet  only  in  train  of  delibera- 
tion, and  consequently  open  to  new  illustrations. 
Second,  that  by  taking  a  vote  on  each  as  a  separate 
body,  it  always  admits  of  the  possibility,  and  is  often 
the  case  in  practice,  that  the  minority  governs  the 
majority,  and  that  in  some  instances  to  a  great  de- 
gree of  inconsistency.  Third,  two  Houses  arbitrarily 
checking  or  controlling  each  other  is  inconsistent, 
because  it  cannot  be  proved  on  the  principles  of  just 
representation  that  either  should  be  wiser  or  better 
than  the  other.  They  may  check  in  the  wrong  as 
well  as  in  the  right,  and  therefore  to  give  them  the 


THE    ARTICLES    OF    CONFEDERATION.         73 

power  where  we  cannot  give  the  wisdom  to  use  it, 
nor  be  assured  of  its  being  rightly  used,  renders  the 
liazard  at  least  equal  to  the  protection." — Paine' h 
Rights  of  Man. 

An  instance  illustratino;  Mr.  Paine's  third  ob- 
jection  is  found  in  senatorial  interference  early 
in  the  history  of  the  Civil  War.  A  bill  passed 
the  House  of  Representatives  to  authorize  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  issue  legal-tender 
notes  to  defray  the  expenses  of  tlie  war.  Tliat 
bill  was  "  checked  "  in  the  Senate,  robbed  of  its 
authority  to  issue  such  notes,  and  the  result  is, 
untold  millions  of  debt,  resulting  in  robbery  and 
oppression  on  the  one  hand,  and  poverty,  debt, 
crime,  and  misery  on  the  other. 

There  are  ample  means  for  preventing  evils  in 
a  single  legislative  body,  and  provisions  for  sub- 
mitting any  measure  to  the  people  for  approval 
can  be  easily  made. 

Another  serious  objection  to  the  senatorial 
branch  is  that  its  powers  are  employed  by  the 
wealthy  and  aristocratic  classes  for  their  special 
interest  and  benefit. 

The  following  editorial  extract  from  a  leading 
Democratic  journal,  In  commenting  on  the  Cali- 
fornia (Democratic)  legislative  proceedings,  says : 

"  Speaking  generally,  the  Assembly  did  much 
better  than  the  Senate.     Its  record  on  vital  issues 


74  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

is  good.  Had  all  the  bills  j^assed  by  it  become  laws, 
the  rights  of  the  people  would  have  been  better  pro- 
tected. The  Senate  has  been  the  theater  of  manip- 
ulation and  evil  practices.  Useful  and  essential 
legislation  has  in  several  instances  been  stifled." 

It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  "  stifle "  useful 
and  essential  legislation  by  senatorial  "  checks," 
"  manipulations,"  and  "  evil  j^i'^ctices." 

In  the  executive  department  excessive  powers 
are  vested.  Beside  the  military  and  naval 
authority  vested  in  the  President,  and  the  veto 
power  by  which  he  can  render  nugatory  the 
action  of  Congress  to  the  extent  reaching  a 
majority  of  two-thirds  lacking  one,  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  judges  of  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court  and  other  Federal  courts,  and  all 
foreign  ministers  and  embassadors,  he  has  the 
power  to  appoint  a  body-guard  of  one  hun- 
dred thousam'  strong,  of  party  supporters,  over 
none  of  whoni  the  people  have  any  control. 

In  regard  to  the  third  (judicial)  department, 
there  is  no  necessity,  on  the  assumption  that  the 
people  are  capable  of  self-government.  Laws 
can  be  so  clearly  expressed  tliat  there  is  no  need 
of  supporting  a  costly  institution,  with  an  army  of 
liungry  cormorants  attached,  to  explain  what  may 
be  made  plain  to  any  ordinary  mind. 

"If  we  permit  our  judgment  to  act  unencum- 
bered by  the  habit  of  multiplied  terms,  we  can  per- 


THE    ARTICLES    OF    CONFEDEllATIOX.         75 

ceive  no  more  than  two  divisions  of  power  of  which 
civil  government  is  composed;  namely,  that  of  leg- 
islating or  enacting  laws,  and  that  of  executing  or 
administering  them.  Everything,  therefore,  apper- 
taining to  civil  government,  classes  itself  under 
one  or  the  other  of  these  two  divisions.  So  far  as 
regards  the  execution  of  the  laws,  that  which  is 
called  judicial  power  is  strictly  and  properly  the 
executive  power  of  every  country.  It  is  that 
jjower  to  which  any  individual  has  an  appeal,  and 
which  causes  the  laws  to  be  executed." — Palae's 
Mights  of  Man. 

In  this  respect,  as  in  all  others,  our  government 
is  made  to  conform  to  that  of  England,  and  the 
inevitable  result  is  a  condition  of  the  people  in 
all  respects  similar — so  far  as  government  is  con- 
cerned— to  that  of  England. 

A  like  system  of  land  tenures,  by  which  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  acres  are  held  by  a  few,  while 
millions  of  2)eople  are  homeless  and  struggling 
in  hopeless  poverty,  with  all  th  \  evils  of  land 
monopoly  rapidly  increasing. 

A  like  monetary  system,  by  which  the  volume 
of  currency  is  controlled  by  corporations  for  their 
own  benefit. 

A  like  system  of  legislation,  by  wiiich  two  dis- 
tinct legislative  bodies  are  created  to  correspond 
with  the  House  of  Lords  and  House  of  Commons, 
by  which  legislation  for  the  people  is  thwarted 
and  schemes  for  enriching  the  few  at  the  expense 
of  the  many  made  easy. 


76  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

A  like  executive  system,  by  which  the  powei* 
is  vested  in  a  citizen  that  magnifies  him  to  the 
proportions  of  a  monarch. 

A  like  judiciary  system,  that  brings  with  it  the 
accumulation  of  hundreds  of  years  of  reports  of 
decisions  which  are  made  to  serve  as  precedents, 
and  complicated  and  intricate  methods  of  plead- 
ing, necessitating  a  class  of  skilled  experts  who 
alone  are  permitted  to  be  iieard  in  the  pursuit  of 
justice  or  in  defense  of  wrongs  in  behalf  of  their 
clients. 

All  these  are  in  direct  violation  of  the  princi- 
ples and  affirmations  as  clearly  set  forth  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  were  incorpor- 
ated in  a  government  formed  by  the  memorable 
convention  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1787,  in  the 
name  of  freedom  and  popular  rights. 

Its  logical  results  are  seen  to-day  in  a  govern- 
ment in  the  pX'sent  order  of  things,  in  which  land- 
lords and  tenants,  millionaires  and  paupers,  pal- 
aces and  hovels,  masters  and  slaves,  are  rapidly 
and  inevitably  increasing,  and  in  which  crime, 
under  the  guise  and  protection  of  law,  holds  sway 
over  a  people  robbed,  impoverished,  and  practi- 
cally disfranchised. 


POLITICAL    PARTIES.  77 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HISTORY  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  AND  THE  EVILS  OF  PARTY  SPIRIT. 

"  My  ear  is  pained, 
!My  soul  is  sick  with  every  day's  report 
Of  wrong  and  outrage  witli  which  the  land  is  filled. 
There  is  no  flesh  in  man's  obdurate  heart; 
It  does  not  feel  for  man ;  the  natural  bond 
Of  brotherhood  is  severed  as  the  flax 
That  falls  asunder  at  the  touch  of  fire." 

It  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  date  the  ori- 
gin of  those  causes  that  in  the  evtnts  of  history 
have  culminated  in  the  political  ^u«vties  of  the 
United  States  to  the  Norman  invasion. 

In  the  eleventh  century,  William  of  Normandy 
crossed  the  English  Channel  with  an  armed  force, 
Overpowered  the  Saxon  mona;^h,  and  took  pos- 
session of  his  kingdom.  He  parceled  out  the 
land  to  his  officers,  requiring  of  them  allegiance 
to  his  crown  and  military  service  as  compensation 
therefor.  These  lands  were  let  for  a  rental  which 
secured  to  the  landlords  an  income, -as  they  were 
worked  by  the  conquered  people,  most  of  whom 
went  with  the  land. 

In  the  course  of  time  the  military  service 
was  exchanged  for  contributions  in  money,  with 


78  THE    NEW    RErUBLIC. 

Avhicli  armies  were  raised  and  equipped.  As 
events  progressed,  the  nobility — as  William's  of- 
ficers and  courtiers  were  called — began  to  clamor 
for  more  rights  and  privileges,  which  in  the  reign 
of  King  John  were  conceded  and  specified  in  the 
Magna  Charta.  The  party  under  its  authority 
increased  in  strength  and  efficiency  so  as  to  ef- 
fectually limit  the  power  of  the  king. 

In  the  mean  time,  England  became  a  great 
maritime  power,  and  when  enterprises  were 
opened  by  the  discoveries  in  the  western  conti- 
nent, they  were  largely  entered  into  by  Great 
Britain,  by  which  extensive  additions  of  terri- 
tory were  mr  le  to  her  dominions.  Especially 
was  this  the'^;?r..se  along  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
Atlantic,  emending  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  Newfoundland.  Stimulated  by  the  spirit  of 
enterprise,  British  subjects  came  over  to  the  col- 
onies and  built  u/t<  societies,  calling  into  requisi- 
tion political  institutions  which  became  objects 
of  interest  to  the  home  government. 

In  a  country  so  distant  and  possessing  such 
abundant  natural  resources,  the  people  became 
more  self-reliant,  and  the  love  of  liberty,  which 
first  found  expression  in  religious  dissensions  in 
the  mother  country,  blazed  afresh  amid  the  free- 
dom of  nature  in  the  New  World.  The  sjiirit  of 
independence  was  fostered,  and  grew  unconscious- 


POLITICAL    PARTIES.  79 

ly,  as  evidenced  by  the  increasing  resistance  to 
the  tyranny  of  the  home  government ;  and  the 
disposition  to  assert  their  natural  rights  finally 
became  so  strong  that  an  open  revolt  was  the 
result.  Thus  originated  the  Patriot  or  Repub- 
lican party.  In  that  revolt,  the  party  demanding 
natural  rights,  supported  by  sympathy  and  mate- 
rial aid  from  France,  Holland,  and  Spain,  and 
voluntary  exiles  from  other  lands,  compelled  an 
acknowledgment  of  independence. 

This  was  the  first  real  victory  for  freedom 
based  on  a  recognition  of  the  natural,  equal,  and 
inalienable  rights  of  man.  But  brief  was  its  tri- 
umph. The  advocates  of  vested  power  derived 
from  kingly  authority  were  unc^taging  in  their 
vigilance,  and  when  the  occasion  krose  for  im- 
proving the  form  of  government  adopted  for  the 
preservation  of  these  rights  so  gloriously  won,  a 
plan  was  consummated  that  established  in  the  or- 
ganic act  of  the  new  government  the  principles 
of  the  party  that  originated  with  William  the 
Conqueror. 

This  party  was  at  this  time  led  by  Alexander 
Hamilton,  whose  fundamental  doctrine  was  that 
of  a  natural  and  Inherent  division  of  the  people 
of  all  civilized  countries  into  distinct  classes — 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  rulers  and  the  ruled ; 
and  so  thoroughly  was  he  imbued  with  this  idea 


80  THE    NEW    RErUBLIC. 

that  he  sousjht  with  all  his  energies  to  frame  a 
government  whose  powers  were  as  far  removed 
from  the  control  of  the  people  as  a  government 
republican  in  form  could  be. 

In  1786,  Mr.  Madison,  at  that  time  an  ardent 
adherent  to  Hamilton's  views,  proposed  in  the 
Virginia  legislature  a  convention  of  deputies  to 
meet  at  Annapolis,  to  revise  the  form  of  govern- 
ment then  existing.  Hamilton,  a  deputy  from 
New  York  at  that  convention,  presented  a  plan 
which  was  adopted  by  that  convention,  for  a  gen- 
eral convention  of  all  the  States  to  revise  the 
Articles  of  Confederation.  At  that  convention, 
which  met  in, '"May,  1787,  the  dominant  party, 
known  as  thei^^'ederalist,  ignoring  the  grand  and 
fundamental  idea  of  the  divinity  and  equality  of 
human  rights  that  was  the  inspiration  of  the 
patriot  fathers,  and  for  which  they  sacrificed  so 
much  blood  and  treasure  to  gain,  succeeded  in 
overthrowing  them,  and  establishing  a  govern- 
ment based  on  vested  powers,  over  which  the 
people  have  no  control,  and  whose  chief  officers 
are  not  elected  directly  by  the  people  nor  respon- 
sible to  them — a  government  more  favorable  to 
ai'istocratic  rule  than  that  which  the  Revolution- 
ary fathers  had  struggled  so  hard  to  free  them- 
selves from. 

But   scarcely  a   decade    had   passed  after    its 


POLITICAL    PARTIES.  81 

adoption,  before  the  party  of  equal  rights  were 
once  more  victorious ;  but  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion had  fixed  the  limits  and  prescribed  the  pow- 
ers of  the  government  and  determined  its  char- 
acter. This  will  continue  until  the  people  once 
more  demand  their  natural  rights,  and  a  orovern- 
ment  based  on  them. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  bho  declared  that  "  the 
party  who  supported  l3  t/  federal  Constitution 
was  aristocratic  and  mo)>archical,"  was  absent 
on  a  foreign  mission,  and  I jie  country  lost  his  ser- 
vices at  home  when  they  were  the  most  needed. 
All  the  Republicans  exhausted  their  utmost  ener- 
gies to  defeat  the  measure  ;  and  denounced  it  as 
no  better  than  the  government  t'aey  had  sought 
to  free  themselves  from.  They  (v,^manded  the 
recognition  and  establishment  of  the  principles 
upon  which  our  independence  was  won.  They 
declared  that  the  party  that  had  set  aside  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  purposely  ignored  the 
natural  rights  of  man,  and  established  a  govern- 
ment with  powers  so  vested  that  the  people  could 
not  control  them,  which  was  a  virtual  defeat  of 
popular  government. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  present  cen- 
tury up  to  1824,  foreign  difficulties  kept  the  peo- 
ple so  well  united  that  party  spirit  was  not  so 
manifest.  However,  in  1811,  Josiah  Quincy,  a 
4# 


82  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

rank  Federalist,  declared  that  disunion  would  be 
justifiable  under  certain  circumstances  ;  and  in 
1812,  the  Hartford  Convention  was  called — a 
Federalist  movement — to  take  into  consideration 
the  necessity  of  the  New  England  States  seced- 
ino;  on  account  of  the  embarso  laid  on  their 
commerce  by  the  governpient.  With  these  ex- 
ceptions, no  important  evj  nts  occurred  to  indicate 
their  designs.  tj, 

Upon  the  accession  of  Mr.  Monroe  to  the 
Presidency,  in  1817,  narty  lines  seemed  almost 
imperceptible.  In  reply  to  an  address  of  the  cit- 
izens of  Maine,  he  said  :  "  The  farther  I  advance 
in  my  progress  in  the  country,  the  more  I  per- 
ceive that  we  ,*^re  all  Americans;  that  we  com- 
pose but  one  ^Y^^^J Nothing  could  give 

me  greater  satisfaction  than  to  behold  a  per- 
fect union  among  ourselves — a  union  which  is 
necessary  to  restore  to  social  Intercourse  its 
former  charms,  and  to  render  our  happiness  as  a 
nation  unmixed  and  complete."  He  believed  the 
people  were  unanimous  in  their  opinions,  and 
"  that  no  second  party  was  necessary  to  the  well- 
being  of  the  government."  As  evidence  of  the 
unanimity  of  party  feeling,  Mr.  Monroe  was  re- 
elected in  1820,  by  a  vote  of  231  out  of  232— 
the  whole  number  of  electoral  votes. 

How  differently  Presidents  talk  in  these  days ! 


POLITICAL    PARTIES.  83 

Party  spirit  rules ;  officials  live  and  thrive  on  it, 
and  do  all  in  their  power  to  foster  and  keep  it  up. 
During  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1824, 
party,  spirit,  which  had  been  quiet — with  the  ex- 
ceptions above  noticed — for  nearly  a  quarter  of 
a  centui-y,  began  to  revive,  and  by  the  next  Pres- 
idential election  rose  to  a  considerable  height. 
Various  causes  conMbuted  to  this  result ;  no 
doubt  amons:  them  v .,  '-e  the  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties,  the  increase  of  lov.?  interests  as  new  States 
Avere  added  to  the  Union,  and  the  conflict  of  in- 
terests arising  from  increasing  industries.  But 
most  of  all  was  the  prospect  held  out  by  Andrew 
Jackson,  who  had  become  a  prominent  candidate 
for  President,  of  a  removal  of  office-holders — at 
least,  of  such  as  were  not  strongly  on  their  side — 
and  the  distribution  of  their  places  as  spoils  to 
the  victors  ;  that  is,  rewards  for  electioneering 
purposes,  which  were  fully  carried  out  upon  his 
accession  to  the  Presidency  in  1828.  Since  then 
the  practice  thus  Inaugurated  has  tended  to 
intensify  party  spirit  by  appeals  to  personal  am- 
bition and  selfish  aims,  rather  than  honest  dif- 
ferences In  regard  to  political  principles  and 
policies  of  government,  which  characterized  the 
Federal  and  Republican  parties  previous  to  that 
time.  This  gave  a  different  turn  to  the  politics 
of  the  country,  being  thus  transferred  from  the 


84  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC. 

domain  of  politic  science  to  that  of  personal 
strife  for  party  supremacy  and  the  spoils  of 
office. 

The  vast  powers  conferred  by  the  Constitution 
upon  the  President  has  made  that  office  the 
object  of  the  most  zealous  and  determined  pur- 
suit, and  the  great  parties  have  become  mere  fac- 
tions, organized  for  the  so^e  purpose  of  profit, 
power,  and  prestige  ;  and,^  avc  lost  sight  of  tlie 
people's  interests  altogether.  In  view  of  these 
facts,  how  foolish  and  short-sighted  It  is  to  be 
carried  away  by  party  spirit,  to  train  under  the 
whip  of  some  leader  for  the  sole  purpose  of  ele- 
vating him  to  power ! 

But  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  old  Federal 
party.  During  Jackson's  administration,  under 
a  new  name,  and  stimulated  by  his  hostility  to 
one  of  their  favorite  and  most  reliable  schemes — 
the  United  States  bank — their  leaders  made  a 
grand  effort  to  defend  it,  and  by  gaining  party 
control  fix  it  upon  a  lasting  basis.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  occasion  of  this  struggle 
was  the  attempt  to  renew  the  charter  of  the 
National  Bank,  which  would  expire  in  1836. 

Falling  in  that,  they  gave  their  attention  to 
State  banks,  and  by  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of 
tiie  Civil  War  they  had  acquired  the  financial 
ability  to  cope  with  and  control  the  nation's  treas- 


POLITICAL    PARTIES.  85 

vu'v,  which  enabled  them  to  dictate  the  creation 
of  corporations  for  the  purpose  of  monopolizing- 
the  currency,  by  which  commerce,  trade,  and  all 
the  industries  of  the  country  are  controlled,  and 
thus  bring  the  wealth-producer  and  wage-earner 
to  a  condition  of  servile  dependence. 

Since  the  Civil  War,  this  element  has  absorbed 
the  most  wealthy  of    both  the  old  parties,  and 
creating    itself    intra  an    oligarchy,  controls    the 
action  of    both  the  '^r.t:,;iiinant  parties    in  all  the 
departments    of    the  government.     In  1868  the 
Democratic  party  had   declared  a  policy  not  al- 
together  favorable    to  their   interests — that    is, 
payment  of  national  bonds  according  to  the  pro- 
visions by  which  they  were  purchased,  and  they 
set  themselves  to  work  and  defeated  it.     In  1872 
Grant's  re-election  was  necessary  to  carry  out  the 
plans  they  had  so  successfully  Inaugurated  dur- 
ing his  first  administration,  and  Mr.  Greeley  was 
sacrificed  to  secure  it.     In  1876  the  Democratic 
nominee    for    President    received    157,037    more 
votes  than  his  competitor,  who,  however,  was  in- 
stalled into  office  because  he  was  the  choice  of  the 
oligarchy ;  and  during  that  administration,  though 
the  Democrats  had   a  majority  on  joint  ballot  of 
13,  no  measures  were    introduced   and  matured 
from  cither  party  looking  to    the  interests  of  the 
people. 


86  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

In  a  word,  tlie  old  Federal  party,  that  gave  us 
the  Constitution,  has  gained  a  permanent  control, 
attracting  to  its  ranks  many  from  modern  democ- 
racy ;  it  has  retired  from  the  field  of  party  strife, 
and  is  enabled  to  hold  sway  by  manipulating  Its 
own  rank  and  file,  as  well  as  the  other  party, 
through  its  tools,  the  politicians,  who  are  satisfied 
to  take  their  chances  in  the  scramble  for  office, 
depending  for  success  upon  tVeir  appeals  to  party 
spirit;  and  by  prejudices lu.d  animosities,  stimu- 
lated by  party  zeal  aroused  by  subsidized  jour- 
nals, stump  oratory,  bold  and  artful  misrepresen- 
tation and  reckless  promises,  they  manage  to  keep 
the  people  in  subjection  to  their  interests. 

In  our  present  condition  there  is  no  hope  of 
relief  from  the  oppression  and  robbery  carried 
on  under  the  provisions  and  sanctions  of  the 
Federal  Constitution.  By  it  powers  are  vested 
In  and  exercised  by  giant  corporations,  who  are 
able  to  clothe  all  their  crimes  in  the  habllimants 
of  law,  and  succeed  in  impressing  upon  the  peo- 
ple the  sanctity  and  inviolability  of  all  govern- 
ment proceedings.  By  the  power  it  vests  in  the 
chief  executive,  It  makes  this  office  so  much  the 
object  of  pursuit  that  ambitious  and  unprincipled 
men  resort  to  all  means  In  their  power  to  gain  it. 

Party  spirit  is  becoming  stronger  under  the 
stimulus    of    increasing    patronage    and    emolu- 


POLITICAL   PARTIES.  87 

ments  and  more  tlioi'ough  discipline ;  and  elec- 
tions are  merely  ratifications  of  conventions 
controlled  in  the  interest  of  great  coi'porations, 
the  culmination  of  the  old  Federal  party. 

Such  officers  so  elected  recognize  no  responsi- 
bility to  the  people,  and  over  whom  the  people 
have  no  control  whatever.  In  private  business 
the  employer  claims  and  exercises  control  over 
his  employee  ;  in  j;ublic  business  the  reverse  is 
the  case.  This  reversal  is  despotism,  and  must 
end  in  revolution  in  some  way. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  prevailing  party 
of  to-day,  which  sways  political  factions  for 
selfish  and  ambitious  ends,  is  the  same  party  that 
prevailed  in  the  convention  that  framed  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution,  and  datino;  its  orijcin  to  the  act 
of  King  John  at  Runymedc,  in  1215.  Emanating 
from  royalty  and  granted  to  nobility,  it  still  re- 
tains its  aristocratic  character,  and  has  estab- 
lished that  condition  in  society  which  Hamilton 
ascribed  to  natural  causes.  The  people  are  di- 
vided into  two  classes — "  the  few,  the  rich,  the 
well-born,"  and  "  the  many,  the  poor,  the  laboring 
masses  " — by  the  power  of  unjust  laws. 

The  real  evils  of  party  spirit  consist  in  the  bias 
it  creates,  the  animosities  and  prejudices  it  en- 
genders, and  the  blind  zeal  and  reliance  upon 
party  leaders  it  inspires  and  promotes,  thus  de- 


88  THE   NEW    KEPUBLIC. 

feating  the  very  purposes  intended  in  establish- 
ing popuhir  government. 

Passionate  attachment  to  party  disqualifies  the 
mind  for  deliberation  and  judgment,  without 
wliich  free  government  cannot  exist.  It  leads  to 
opposition  of  interests  and  strife,  compelling  tlie 
people  to  take  up  the  interests  of  individuals  in- 
stead of  interests  of  public  concern.  This  will 
inevitably  be  the  case  when  the  aims  and  objects 
of  party  are  the  spoils  of  office.  Party  spirit 
now  becomes  the  instrument  of  desio-ning  men 
as  we  have  so  often  seen  manifested  in  political 
"  bossism  "  within  the  last  few  years. 

Washington's  Farewell  Address  is  as  applicable 
to  the  people  of  to-day  as  it  was  in  1796  ;  and  his 
views  in  regard  to  the  evils  of  party  spirit  apply 
more  forcibly  now  than  ever  before  in  the  history 
of  our  government.     He  says  : 

"  I  have  already  intimated  the  danger  of  parties 
in  the  State,  with  particular  reference  to  the  found- 
ing of  them  on  geographical  discriminations.  Let 
me  now  take  a  more  com])rehensive  view,  and  warn 
you  in  the  most  solemn  manner  against  the  baneful 
effects  of  the  spirit  of  party  generally. 

"  This  spirit  is  unfortunately  inseparable  from 
our  nature,  having  its  root  in  the  strongest  passions 
of  the  human  mind.  It  exists  under  different 
shapes  in  all  governments,  more  or  less  stifled,  con- 
trolled, or  repressed ;  but  in  those  of  the  popular 
form  it  is  seen  in  its  greatest  rankness,  and  is  truly 
their  worst  enemy. 


POLITICAL    PARTIES.  89 

"The  alternate  dominatiou  of  one  faction  over 
another,  sharpened  by  the  spirit  of  revenge  natural 
to  party  dissensions,  which  in  different  ages  and 
countries  has  perpetrated  the  most  horrid  enormi- 
ties, is  itself  a  frightful  despotism.  But  this  leads 
me  at  once  to  a  more  formal  and  permanent  despo- 
tism. The  disorders  and  miseries  which  result 
gradually  incline  the  minds  of  men  to  seek  security 
and  repose  in  the  absolute  power  of  an  individual, 
and  sooner  or  later  the  chief  of  some  prevailing  fac- 
tion, more  able  or  more  fortunate  than  his  competi- 
tors, turns  this  disposition  to  t!ie  purposes  of  his 
own  elevation  on  the  ruins  of  public  liberty. 

"  Without  looking  forward  to  an  extremity  of 
this  kind  (which  nevertheless  ought  not  to  be  en- 
tirely out  of  sight),  the  common  and  continual  mis- 
chiefs of  the  spirit  of  party  are  sufficient  to  make 
it  the  interest  and  duty  of  a  wise  people  to  discour- 
age and  restrain  it.  It  serves  always  to  distract 
the  public  councils  and  enfeeble  the  public  admin- 
istration. It  agitates  the  community  with  ill- 
founded  jealousies  and  false  alarms,  kindles  the 
animosity  of  one  part  against  the  other,  forments 
occasionally  riot  and  insurrection.  It  opens  the 
door  to  foreign  induence  and  corruption,  which 
find  a  facilitated  access  to  the  government  itself 
through  the  channels  of  party  passion.  Thus,  the 
policy  and  will  of  our  country  are  subject  to  the 
policy  and  will  of  another. 

"  There  is  an  opinion  that  parties  in  free  coun- 
tries are  useful  checks  upon  the  administration  of 
the  government,  and  serve  to  keep  alive  the  spirit 
of  liberty.  This,  within  certain  limits,  is  probably 
true,  and  in  governments  of  a  monarchical  cast, 
patriotism  may  look  with  indulgence,  if  not  with 
favor,  upon  the  spirit  of  party.     But  in  those  of  a 


90  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

})Oj)ular  character,  in  govei-nments  purely  elective, 
it  is  a  spirit  not  to  be  encouraged.  From  their 
natural  tendency,  it  is  certain  there  will  always  be 
enough  of  that  spirit  for  every  salutary  purpose. 
And  there  being  constant  danger  of  excess,  the 
effort  ought  to  be  by  force  of  ]nxblic  opinion  to  mit- 
igate and  assuage  it.  A  hre  not  to  be  quenched,  it 
demands  a  universal  vigilance  to  prevent  its  burst- 
ing into  a  flame,  lest,  instead  of  warming,  it  should 
consume." 

To  the  reflecting  mind  a  retrospect  of  the  iiis- 
tcry  of  party  spirit  will  disclose  the  sagacity, 
wisdom,  and  forethought  expressed  in  the  sol- 
emn warning  of  this  illustrious  man.  They  are 
seen  in  the  recent  elections.  Without  an  issue 
of  the  least  importance  to  the  interests  of  the 
people,  the  two  political  parties,  by  appeals  to 
party  spirit,  and  arousing  public  passion,  they 
drew  to  their  ranks  millions  of  adherents,  the 
sole  purpose  of  which  was  the  contest  for  suprem- 
acy of  the  one  party  or  the  other.  In  this  way, 
questions  which  should  command  the  attention 
of  the  people,  and  the  understanding  of  which  is 
essential  to  their  interest,  are  thus  diverted  from 
consideration  and  discussion.  All  questions  of 
great  importance  are  thus  neglected,  and  the 
people's  minds  filled  with  prejudice  and  mutual 
hatred,  they  are  not  qualified  to  act  intelligently. 
Popular  government  is  in  this  way  defeated,  and 
party  spirit  is  the  chief  instrumentality  by  which 
the  defeat  is  accomplished. 


REVIEW    OF    OUll    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.       91 

CHAPTER   VII. 

REVIEW    OF    OUR    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM. 

"  For  sjjariug  justice  feeds  iuiquity." 

"  There's  a  fish  hangs  in  the  net  like  a  poor  man's  rights  in 
the  law." 

As  civilization  advances,  the  ruder  and  less 
developed  institutions  gradually  yield  to  more 
advanced  and  mature. 

Each  onward  step  is  attended  with  difficulty 
in  proportion  as  the  peojile  are  rude  and  unde- 
veloped. The  conservative  element  here  asserts 
its  prerogative,  and  the  conflict  is  between  error, 
supported  by  prejudice,  bigotry,  and  the  aggran- 
dizement of  those  whose  interests  it  supports  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  light  of  advancing  thought 
expressed  in  new  ideas,  sought  to  be  applied  to 
the  welfare  of  society,  on  the  other. 

So  firmly  do  laws  and  institutions  once  estab- 
lished remain  fixed,  and  so  easily  are  prejudices 
excited  for  them,  that  it  is  no  difficult  thing  for 
interested  parties  to  retain  the  old  and  prevent 
the  new. 

Thus  a  judiciary  system,  established  hundreds 
of  yeai's  ago,  in  the  feudal   ages,  in  a  monarch i- 


92  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

cal  government,  attendetl  with  imposing  ceremo- 
nies and  fixed  forms,  is  preserved  in  its  material 
characteristics  and  transmitted  to  us. 

This  system  does  not  aim  at  justice,  it  only 
professes  to  administer  law  ;  and  whatever  might 
have  been  the  intention  of  formulating  justice  in 
the  terms  of  law,  the  distinction  is  now  so  great 
as  not  to  be  included  in  the  same  category. 
Precedents,  arising  from  decisions,  the  conditions 
which  gave  rise  to  them  having  ceased  long  years 
ago,  and  in  localities  thousands  of  miles  away, 
form  the  basis  of  judicial  decisions  to-day. 

"  The  English  Courts  all  decide  according  to  pre- 
cedent, or  if  no  former  decision  can  be  found,  then 
by  analogy,  to  what  has  been  decided  in  similar 
cases,  or  upon  some  general  principle  which  has 
been  recognized ;  and  in  cases  entirely  new,  have 
sometimes  sought  aid  from  the  Roman  Law." — 
American  C>/clo2)edia,  loc.  cit. 

That  is  to  say,  when  a  case  arises  that  comes 
under  no  previous  decision,  they  go  hach  to 
heathen  institutions  for  light,  ignoring  the  judg- 
ment of  modern  thinkers,  and  all  the  benefits  of 
modern  science  and  philosophy.  Common  sense 
and  the  promptings  of  natural  justice  are  alike 
io-nored,  and  we  have  a  fossilized  system  as  arbi- 
trary and  unyielding  as  the  bed  of  Procrustes. 

"  The  Courts  of  the  United  States  have  a  general 
correspondence  with  the  English  judiciary  system." 
^Ibid. 


REVIEW    OF    OUU    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.       93 

The  modifications  pertain  to  local  jurisdiction, 
rather  than  changes  in  the  essential  character  of 
the  courts. 

An  attempt  was  made  in  France  in  1790  to 
abrogate  all  power  of  deciding  from  analogy,  or 
even  a  resort  to  general  principles  of  jurispru- 
dence ;  and  all  cases  not  provided  for  by  express 
laws  were  to  be  refei'red  to  the  National  Assem- 
bly, for  the  purpose  of  having  such  law  enacted 
as  would  be  applicable  to  the  particular  case. 

"  This  crude  experiment,"  says  the  historian, 
"  was  so  unsatisfactory,  that  in  the  Code  Napo- 
leon it  was  thought  necessary,  not  only  to  restore 
to  the  courts  >the  power  of  deciding  upon  general 
principles  and  analogy,  but  it  was  made  penal  to 
do  otherwise." 

"  General  principles  and  analogy !  "  AYho 
understands  general  principles  and  analogy? 
Blackstone  wrote  four  portly  vol luues  to  explain 
the  Common  Law  that  every  one  is  supposed  to 
understand.  It  requires  years  of  study  and  dis- 
cipline to  be  able  to  expound  the  law,  and  yet 
every  one  above  an  idiot  or  lunatic  is  responsible 
to  it.  The  Emperor  Nero  is  said  to  have  dis- 
played his  tyranny  by  causing  the  laws  to  be 
placed  beyond  the  people's  knowledge,  and  then 
punishing  them  for  disobeying  them. 

The   people  in  this  government  are  virtually 


94  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

in  tlic  same  condition ;  for  the  laws  are  access! 
ble  to  very  few ;  and  if  one  wishes  a  legal  opin. 
ion,  it  costs  him  a  good  round  fee — an  opinion 
that  generally  leads  to  litigation,  and  is  stoutly 
denied  by  the  opposing  counsel,  who  is  of  equal 
ability. 

It  is  not  strange  that  men  eminent  in  the  legal 
profession  should  disagree  in  the  most  vital 
points  of  law  ;  for  when  we  come  to  consider  that 
law  is  a  vast  accumulation  of  rules,  regulations, 
orders,  decisions,  opinions,  speculations,  theories, 
legislative  enactments,  and  customs,  running 
back  to  "  the  time  the  memory  of  man  knoweth 
not  to  the  contrary  "  ;  when  we  further  consider 
the  machinery  for  its  administration  is  so  compli- 
cated, cumbersome,  intricate,  dilatory,  and  uncer- 
tain— we  cease  to  wonder  at  the  diversity  of 
opinion  ;  for  it  requires  more  than  human  ability 
to  comprehend  the  whole.  But  the  great  won- 
der is,  that  since  simple  justice  is  all  the  people 
demand,  and  that  its  administration  is  so  simple, 
easy,  certain,  direct,  and  less  costly,  that  it  does 
not  take  the  place  of  the  present  burdensome 
and  oppressive  system. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  people  should  tol- 
erate and  suffer  from  such  a  judiciary  system.  If 
the  laws  were  written  in  plain,  clear,  and  explicit 
language,  so  that  all  could  read  and  understand 


REVIEW    OF    UUU    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.        95 

them,  andeatiy,  simple,  and  direct  methods  of  ad- 
ministration devised,  the  objects  and  purposes  of 
law  \Yould  be  accomplished  at  very  little  cost  and 
infinite  relief  to  the  people. 

The  history  of  judicial  proceedings  is  one  of 
injustice,  cruelty,  and  tyranny.  It  is  a  history 
of  fraud,  crime,  and  oppression  perpetrated  in  a 
legal  way.  Its  great  feature  is  the  conviction  of 
])Oor  and  obscure  offenders,  and  the  infliction  of 
heavy  penalties ;  while  wealthy  criminjds  and 
those  occupying  prominent  })Ositions  in  society 
are  allowed  almost  perfect  immunity:  the  former 
to  "  vindicate  the  law  "  and  spread  terror  among 
the  lower  classes  ;  the  n'tter  serves  for  an  im- 
mense  revenue  to  the  profession,  and  is  a  consid- 
eration for  compounding  'crime  in  high  places. 

In  the  attempted  compromise  between  the  rob- 
ber chiefs  of  the  Mussel  Slough  land-steal  and 
the  settlers  thereon,  Mr.  Huntington  said  in  sub- 
stance :  "  We  have  the  government  to  back  us 
up;  the  settlers  can  do  nothing." 

Instances  of  outright  forgeries,  recognized  by 
judicial  enactments,  and  nailed  by  precedents,  ai'e 
numerous  ;  as  instance  the  Broderick  Will  Case, 
the  outlines  of  which  are  here  presented : 

"  David  C.  Broderick,  a  United  States  Senator 
from  California,  fell  in  a  duel  with  David  S.  Terry, 
in  this  city  and  county,  and  died  a  few  days  there- 


96  THE    NEW    llEPUBLIC. 

after,  September  16,  1859,  He  left  an  estate  in 
San  Francisco  of  the  value  of  about  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  It  was  generally  believed  that 
he  left  no  kindred  ;  in  fact,  he  was  rej^orted  to 'have 
so  declared  a  long  time  before  his  death.  During 
the  few  days  which  passed  between  his  injury  and 
his  decease,  he  said  nothing  in  regard  to  having  any 
kin,  or  having  made  any  will.  After  his  death,  a 
thorough  search  among  his  papers  and  effects  was 
made,  but  no  will  was  discovered,  and  the  public 
administrator  took  charge  of  the  estate, 

"  On  the  20th  of  the  following  February  John 
A.  McGlynn  and  Andrew  J.  Butler  presented  to  our 
Probate  Court  and  had  tiled  for  probate  a  docu- 
ment whicli  purported  to  be  the  last  will  and  testa- 
ment of  David  C,  Broderick,  in  which  they  were 
named  as  executors  with^^iit  bonds,  in  connection 
with  George  Wilkes  of  ^'ew  York  City,  It  dis- 
posed of  the  entire  estate ''m  two  brief  paragraphs — 
to  John  A.  McGlynn  was.  given  $10,000,  to  George 
Wilkes  the  residue, 

"On  the  day  appointed  for  hearing  the  application 
of  McGlynn  and  Butler  for  letters  testamentary, 
various  persons  appeared,  claiming  to  be  heirs,  and 
contested  the  proposed  paper  on  the  ground  that 
it  Avas  forged.  The  trial  was  set  for  June  18, 1860, 
when  it  was  commenced,  and  it  continued  until 
October  8th  following.  Many  witnesses  were  ex- 
amined and  depositions  were  read  of  persons  resid- 
ing in  New  York,  On  the  date  last  given,  the 
Probate  Court  (Judge  Blake)  held  the  alleged  will 
to  be  genuine,  admitted  it  to  probate,  and  appointed 
McGlynn  and  Butler  executors  without  bonds. 
Appeals  were  taken  by  the  claimants,  or  those  de- 
claring themselves  to  be  heirs,  which  were  dis- 
missed fur  want   of   prosecution.     (It   would   not 


REVIEW    OF    OUR    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.        97 

puzzle  the  average  lawyer  to  guess  how  this  came 
about.) 

"The  executors,  in  the  course  of  administration, 
obtained  an  order  of  court  authorizing  them  to  sell, 
either  at  private  or  public  sale,  the  whole  or  any 
portion  of  the  estate.  The  sale  was  advertised  for 
November  30,  1861.  On  November  29,  1861,  the 
Attorney-General,  Thomas  H.  Williams,  on  behalf 
of  the  State,  and  on  the  relation  of  Frank  M.  Pixley, 
Esq.,  Attorney-General  elect,  but  not  yet  in  office, 
filed  in  the  Fourth  District  Court  an  information 
alleging  that  Broderick  had  died  intestate  and 
without  heirs,  and  that  his  estate  had  escheated  to 
the  State  of  California.  On  the  same  day  he  com- 
menced in  the  same  court  a  suit  in  equity  to  ob- 
tain an  injunction  against  the  sale  of  the  estate  by 
McGlynn  and  Butler.  A  temporary  restraining  or- 
der was  issued  pending  the  information. 

"On  the  hearing  it  wmclaimed  by  the  plaintiff 
that  the  forgery  was  acr  «"$  iplished  after  this  man- 
ner :  Butler,  who  was  in  this  State  when  Broderick 
died,  and  afterwards,  conceived  the  job ;  and  go- 
ing to  New  York,  confederated  witli  Moses  E.  Flan- 
agan, James  R.  Maloney,  George  Wilkes,  John  J. 
Hoff,  and  Alfred  A.  Phillips.  Flanagan,  who  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  using,  by  consent,  Broderick's 
senatorial  frank,  wrote  simulated  signatures  on  sev- 
eral sheets  of  paper.  Phillips  wrote  the  will  above 
one  of  those  signatures,  and  he  and  Hoff  signed 
their  names  as  witnesses.  It  was  not  disclosed 
where  the  alleged  will  was  discovered.  It  pur- 
ported to  have  been  made  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
on  January  2  (Sunday),  1859. 

"McGlynn,  who  was  not  charged  with  the  forgery, 
was  the  only  defendant  who  appeared.  He  denied 
on  information  and  belief  all  the  allegations  of  the 


98  THE    XEW    REPUBLIC. 

complaint.  Ilis  defense  was  that  the  will  was  gen- 
nine,  and  that  tlie  decree  of  the  Probate  Court 
admitting  the  document  to  probate  was  final  and 
conclusive,  and  could  not  be  questioned  by  any- 
other  court — under  the  statute  which  provided 
that  after  the  lapse  of  one  year  from  the  probate 
of  a  will  the  probate  shall  be  conclusive. 

"Judge  Hager  held  that  this  statute  did  not  pre- 
clude courts  of  equity  from  setting  aside  wills  the 
probate  of  which  had  been  procured  by  fraud.  He 
said  :  '  It  seems  like  an  anomaly  in  law  that  by  any 
course  of  reasoning,  based  on  principle  and  legal 
authority,  we  should  attempt  to  establish  the  valid- 
ity of  a  forged  will,  which  is  of  itself  a  nullity,  or 
of  its  probate  procured  by  fraud  and  perjury;  and 
if  successfully  done,  I  fear  it  would  be  a  reflection 
upon  our  institutions  and  a  stain  upon  our  juris- 
prudence  It  is  i£ged  that  equity  will  not 

interfere,  even  if  it  be  fiitablished  that  the  will  is 
a  forgery,  and  its  probate  procured  by  fraud  and 
perjury.  If  this  be  sound  in  principle  and  sup- 
ported by  authority,  we  deduce  a  controlling  prin- 
ciple of  law  to  the  following  effect:  That  if  aperson 
successfully  consummates  the  forgery  of  a  will,  and 
by  fraud  and  perjury  gets  it  admitted  to  probate, 
and  for  one  year  thereafter  conceals  the  evidence 

of  his  crime,  he  may  acquire  an  estate Such 

a  principle  Avould  seem  to  be  in  violation  of  natural 
justice,  absolute  rights,  and  public  policy.  .  .  .  .  I 
am  not  able  to  understand  why  a  forged  will  should 
be  placed  upon  any  footing  different  from  a  forged 
deed.' 

"  Having  declared  that  the  only  satisfactory  evi- 
dence in  the  case  was  that  evinced  by  the  will  itself, 
Judge  Hager  proceeded : 

" '  An   inspection   of    the  will    discloses   to  the 


REVIEW    OF    OUR    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.       99 

senses  some  peculiar  pheuomeua,  and  many  re- 
markable visible  signs  that  are  suggestive  and  cir- 
cumstantially strong  against  the  probable  truth  of 
some  of  the  defendants'  evidence.  It  is  manifest 
to  the  eye  that,  in  the  signature  "  D.  C.  Broderick," 
and  in  the  words  "John  J.  Iloff,  131  and  133  Wash- 
ington Street,  Huboken,  N.  J.,"  the  ink  of  the  one 
is  of  a  darker  tint  than  that  of  the  other,  and  tliat 
both  are  much  darker-hued  than  the  writing  com- 
posing the  body  of  the  document  and  the  certificate 
of  attestation.  In  the  last-mentioned  instance  it 
is  so  demonstrable,  upon  mere  inspection,  that  I 
can  hardly  suppose  tlie  entire  document  and  signa^ 
tures  wex'e  written  on  the  same  occasion,  at  the 
same  table,  and  with  the  same  ink,  as  we  are  led  to 
infer  was  tlie  case  from  the  testimony  of  Phillij)8 
and  Iloff. 

•"The  will  consists  of  <;ne  sheet  of  letter  paper ; 
the  signature  is  on  the  third  line  of  the  second  page, 
and  is  succeeded  by  the  certificate  of  the  subscrib- 
ing witnesses. 

"'The  body  of  the  will  contains  twenty-one  lines 
of  manuscript.  Of  these,  eighteen  are  entire  lines, 
without  interlineation.  As  the  lines  approximate 
the  signature  the  letters  become  gradually  and  very 
perceptibly  smaller,  and  the  words  were  more  con- 
densed and  crowded,  and  in  the  last  line  a  few  of 
the  words  are  carried  beyond  the  marginal  line, 
which  is  the  only  instance  where  it  occurs,  either 

in  the  body  of  the    will   or  the  certificate 

These  phenomena,  so  remarkable  and  extraordi- 
nary, apparent  upon  the  face  of  the  will,  and  estab- 
lished in  some  respects  with  the  certainty  of  a 
mathematical  demonstration,  are  unexplained,  and, 
in  view  of  the  evidence,  cannot  upon  any  reason- 
able hypothesis  be  attributed  to  chance  or  accident. 


100  THE    NEW    REPUHEIC. 

The  ordinary  manuscript  of  a  scrivener  would 
scarcely  ever' exhibit  such  marked  peculiarities.  If, 
however,  as  some  of  the  evidence  tends  to  indicate, 
the  name  "  D.  C.  Broderick  "  was  first  loritteu,  and 
that  alleged  signature  and  the  initial  line  on  the 
first  page  formed  a  Proscrustean  bed,  in  which  the 
body  of  this  alleged  will  was  placed  and  made  to 
conform  to  it,  we  have  a  solution.' 

"The  judge  ordered  the  injunction  issued  as 
prayed  for.  McGIynn  appealed,  and  a  memorable 
argument  followed  before  the  Supreme  Court. 
Messrs.  Hoge  and  Wilson  represented  the  appellant, 
and  succeeded  in  upholding  the  will.  Judge  Ila- 
ger's  injunction  Avas  dissolved.  James  B.  Haggin 
represented  the  self-declared  heirs-at-law,  and  Greg- 
ory Yale  fought  like  a  Titan  for  the  lost  cause.  The 
following  vigorous  extract  from  his  brief  is  hei-e 
presented : 

'"The  great  effort  is  now,  and  always  has  been 
since  the  accidental  probate  of  this  felonious  paper, 
to  take  shelter  behind  a  formal  decree  legalizing 
the  felonious  act.  Will  or  no  will  when  pro- 
pounded for  probate,  it  is  claimed  that  it  became 
an  immaculate  testament  when  solemnized  by  cer- 
tain forms.  Broderick  may  not  have  made  a  will, 
but  Butler,  with  his  co-conspirators,  has  secured 
the  Probate  Judge's  name,  if  not  D.  C.  Broderick^s, 
to  the  paper,  and  no  human  power  can  detach  it. 
This  is  the  doctrine  that  this  court  is  called  upon 
to  sanction.  Years  and  generations  hence,  the 
term  of  18G2  is  to  be  signalized — as  the  forgers  and 
speculators  would  decree  it — as  an  epoch  in  the 
legal  history  of  this  great  State,  when  its  highest 
tribunal  pronounced  in  favor  of  an  unmitigated 
fraud,  only  because  an  inferior  tribunal  had  sanc- 
tioned it,  and  because  the  law  afforded  no  escape 


REVIEW    OF    OUR    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.     101 

from  its  own  machinations.  Such  reflections  upon 
the  law  are  unwarrantable,  unworthy  of  any  civil- 
ized code,  and  humiliating  to  listen  to.' 

"  The  Supreme  Court  refused  to  interfere  with  the 
probate  of  the  will,  on  the  ground  that  the  decree 
of  the  Probate  Court  was  final  and  conclusive,  the 
statutory  period  of  one  year  having  elapsed  since 
its  probate,  and  not  subject,  except  on  an  appeal  to 
a  higher  court,  to  be  questioned  in  any  other  court, 
or  he  set  aside  or  vacated  by  a  court  of  equity  on 
any  ground  (20  Cal.  234). 

"The  estate  was  accordingly  sold,  and  distributed 
in  pursuance  of  the  terms  of  the  will." 

The  following  instance  shows  a  case  in  which 
a  precedent  overrides  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  as  given  by  Samuel  Sinnett  of 
Iowa : 

"  There  is  no  place  where  reform  is  more  loudly 
called  for  than  in  our  courts  of  law.  It  is  strange 
that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century 
the  demand  for  reform  in  our  courts  has  not  been 
treated  with  that  respect  to  which  such  a  subject 
is  entitled.  But,  instead  of  keeping  up  with  the 
spirit  of  the  age,  and  repealing  old  obsolete  laws 
and  rulings  in  our  courts,  we  are  piling  up  a  pyra- 
mid of  absurd  and  complicated  contradictory  stat- 
utes, that  are  victimizing  all  those  that  seek  justice 
in  our  courts.  Fully  four-fifths  of  the  people  are 
in  favor  of  courts  of  arbitration  (where  no  lawyers 
should  be  allowed  to  plead),  where  cases  might  be 
tried  on  their  merits,  and  justice  rendered  without 
such  fearful  costs  and  the  torture  of  prolonged  de- 
lay, and  the  rude  and  often  insulting  of  the  cross- 
questioning  of  the  counsel,  who  often  treat  witnesses 


102  THE    NEW    KErUBLIC. 

as  if  they  were  in  the  habit  of  perjury.     Then  our 
whole  sys-tem  is  wrong.     The  idea  of  one  man  de- 
ciding a  case  wliere  eleven  are  in  favor  of  convic- 
tion might  have  done  very  well  in  the  days  of  John, 
but  is   altogether  out  of  place  in  the  present  age. 
Why  not  have  a  two-thirds  majority  render  a  ver- 
dict?    The   Grand   Jury  is  a  relic  of  a  past   age, 
which,  like  the  Electoral  College  and  the  Senate, 
ought  to  be  sent  up  to  tlie  garret  with  the  rest  of 
the  lumber.     But  some  will  ask,  "  What  would  be- 
come of  our  lawyers?  "     They  could  not  all  be  sent 
to    Congress  and   the   Legislature.     Your   system 
would  simplify  justice,  and  there  would  be  little 
chance  for   prolonged  litigation.     Then  were  our 
laws  honestly  executed  (bad  as  some  of  them  are), 
there  would  not  be  such  cause  for  complaint;  but 
we  find  our  courts  have  become  mere  skinning  es- 
tablishments, where  the  flaying  is  continued  as  long 
as  there  is  hide  enough  left  to  pay  for  the  operation. 
You  can't  give  even  a  simple  note  off-hand   any 
more  without  there  is  an  iron-clad  provision  to  pay 
a  reasonable  attorney's  fee  (generally  from  $50  to 
1100,  when  |5  would  be  ample  pay  for  the  service), 
and  then  costs  are  all  secured  by  provisions  of  the 
note.     But  worst  of  all  is  the  iron-clad  mortgage, 
with  its  coupons,  each  and  all  claiming  like   fees 
and  costs.     I  know  of  one  firm  that  has  loaned  out 
five   millions  of    iScotch  capital  on   mortgages  on 
farms  (these  money-lenders  always  prefer  that  class 
of  property),  the  principal  and  interest-coupons  all 
to  be  repaid  in  gold  at  a  certain  banking-house  in 
New  York.     AVhat  a  fat  thing  this  will  be  for  the 
lawyers  that  collect  them !     Now,  this  is   always 
loaned  on  a  valuation  of  one-third,  so  that  there  is 
a  rich  margin  to  fatten  on.     And   yet  those  very 
farmers  will  vote  for  lawyers  to  represent  them,  ex- 


EEVIEW    OF    OUR    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.    103 

pecting  those  men  to  make  laws  to  protect  the  peo- 
ple from  such  a  system  of  things.  What  fools  the 
lawyers  are  to  neglect  their  own  interests!  Now, 
the  worst  class  of  men  to  send  to  Congress  and  the 
Legislature  to  made  laws  are,  without  excej^tion, 
lawyers,  because  they  have  no  interest  in  common 
with  their  constituents,  and  will  make  the  laws  as 
mysterious  and  contradictory  as  j^ossible. 

"It  is  generally  believed  that  judges  are  seated 
on  the  bench  to  administer  justice  agreeable  to  law 
and  in  harmony  with  the  Constitution,  as  it  is  gen- 
erally conceded  that  no  statute  can  be  of  force  when 
it  conflicts  with  the  Constitution.  I  will  here  relate 
a  little  of  my  own  experience  in  that  respect.  We 
had  one  of  those  legalized  robbery  schemes  en- 
forced here,  termed  a  five-per-cent  tax,  to  aid  in 
building  a  railroad.  A  number  of  the  tax-j^ayers 
refused  to  pay  the  tax,  and  sued  out  an  injunction 
against  the  collector  forbidding  him  selling  our 
property.  (Just  imagine  :  selling  our  homes  out  to 
build  a  railroad  to  rob  us!)  Well,  they  sent  for  a 
certain  judge  from  a  neighboring  county  to  come 
and  try  the  injunction  suit.  In  rendering  his  de- 
cision he  made  use  of  the  following  singular  state- 
ment :  "  That  there  was  little  doubt  but  the  law  iocs 
unconstitutional.^^  Private  jjroperty  shall  not  be 
taken  for  public  purposes  without  just  compensation 
(tr.  S.  Const.);  but  there  was  a  decision  by  which 
he  would  have  to  be  governed,  and  he  dissolved  the 
injunction  and  ordered  our  property  to  be  sold. 
The  judge  that  had  so  just  a  respect  for  the  deci- 
sion of  a  court  and  so  little  for  the  Constitution 
has  since  been  advanced  to  the  Supreme  Bench, 
where  his  decisions  will  become  law  for  future  as- 
piring pettifoggers.  I  will  here  state  another  case 
to  show  how  justice  is  carried  on  in  our  courts.     A 


104  THE    NEW    KEPUBLIC. 

certain  young  man  committed  forgery  for  some 
trilling  amount.  The  penalty  was  only  three 
months  in  the  penitentiary.  He  wanted  to  plead 
guilty,  but  certain  limbs  of  the  law  saw  a  good 
chance  for  a  hand,  and  persuaded  him  to  stand  a 
trial.  Well,  he  was  indicted  for  the  offense,  and 
the  State  attorney  drew  up  sixteen  different  charg- 
es or  counts  in  the  indictment,  for  which  he  charged 
sixteen  different  fees  against  the  county  ;  and  as  the 
prisoner  had  no  money  to  hire  counsel,  the  judge 
appointed  one  of  the  bar  to  defend  him,  for  which 
he  was  entitled  to  |10  fee,  but  he  brought  in  a  bill 
of  $160,  being  $10  for  each  count  in  the  indictment. 
That  man  is  one  of  the  law-makers  of  Iowa,  and  the 
prosecuting  attorney  is  befoi'e  the  people  for  elec- 
tion again,  with  a  good  prospect  of  success." 

And  thus  innumerable  cases  have  originated 
without  the  least  merit,  and  carried  through  a 
long  and  costly  litigation  to  a  successful  issue  ; 
and  innumerable  other  cases  founded  on  justice 
and  with  real  merit  have  met  with  an  opposite 
fate. 

The  only  reason  why  such  a  monstrous  system 
of  oppression  is  suffered  to  exist,  is  that  we  rever- 
ence antiquity  and  venerate  the  institutions  of 
the  past,  and  bow  to  their  authority  by  the  sheer 
force  of  custom  and  education.  .  As  a  means  for 
the  administration  of  justice,  our  judiciary  system 
is  a  most  signal  failure ;  as  a  source  of  wealth  to 
a  class  of  professional  vampires,  it  is  a  most  sig- 
nal success. 


REVIEW    OF    OUR    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.    lOJ 

The  moral  Influence  of  the  courts  of  hiw  and  of 
the  legal  profession  is  corrupting  and  degrading. 
The  courts  are  stern,  dignified,  and  despotic, 
exacting  the  most  servile  obedience  to  their  man- 
dates, with  severe  and  summary  punishment  for 
"  contempt,"  as  non-obedience  to  their  dictates  is 
termed  ;  all  of  which  Is  to  enforce  slavish  obedi- 
ence and  protect  the  "  majesty  of  the  law  "  !  As 
fitting  instruments  of  these  despotic  institutions 
are  the  "legal  profession,"  who  infest  every  com- 
munity, and  live  in  wealth  and  luxury  at  the  peo- 
ple's expense. 

Mlsrejiresentation,  cunning,  and  artifice  are 
their  implements,  and  skill  in  the  intricacies  of  a 
subtle  craft  their  stock  in  trade.  Falsehood  sup- 
ported by  all  the  sanctity  of  an  oath  administered 
in  the  most  solemn  and  Imposing  manner,  and  sup- 
ported by  all  the  craft  that  cunning  can  devise, 
is  a  frequent  factor  in  the  solution  of  their  legal 
problems. 

Clients,  whose  desire  for  victory  is  intensified 
by  the  zeal  and  assurances  of  their  advocates  and 
the  sympathy  they  excite,  imbibe  the  spirit  of 
their  champions,  and  cherish  with  peculiar  sat- 
isfaction the  exaggerai?ions,  misrepresentations, 
schemes  of  artifice,  and  often  of  falsehoods, 
employed  by  their  attorneys,  and  these  they 
carry    to    their    homes    and    associates,    where 


106  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

they  are  commented  on  and  admired,  and  thus 
the  poison,  originating  in  well-trained  and  skill- 
ful brains  versed  in  all  the  arts  of  decep- 
tion, is  diffused  throughout  society ;  and  as 
custom  blunts  by  familiarity,  so  the  finer  sense 
of  justice,  which  under  proper  circumstances 
would  demand  the  right,  is  lost  in  the  coarser 
sense  of  self-interest. 

The  influence  of  the  legal  profession  in  politi- 
cal affairs  is  well  nigh  omnipotent.  As  a  rule, 
its  members  are  the  "politicians"  and  man- 
agers of  all  the  scheme  s  for  corporate  villiany, 
always  pliant  and  purchasable.  As  practice 
in  the  courts  is  a  species  of  warfare,  and 
as  all  measures  of  deceiving  the  enemy  and  tak- 
ing advantage  of  his  weak  points  are  justifiable 
in  warlike  tactics,  so  must  the  legal  practitioner 
of  necessity  become  familiar  with  and  resort  to 
these  arts  of  war.  However  justifiable  they  may 
be  on  the  battle-field,  at  the  bar,  and  in  conflict 
with  moral  forces,  their  effect  is  necessarily  in- 
imical to  integrity  and  uprightness  of  character. 
The  rule  of  exception  applies  here  as  elsewhere, 
and  it  is  due  to  the  profession  to  say  that  some 
legal  minds  have  reflected  great  credit  upon 
human  nature. 

The  vocation  necessitates  craft,  and  the  practice 
makes  men  crafty. 


REVIEW    OF    OUR    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.    107 

The  following,  from  the  pen  of  John  Swinton, 
will  be  fippreciated  by  every  admirer  of  that 
able  reformer : 

"In  the  business  of  subverting  the  liberties  of 
our  beloved  country,  I  do  not  dread  the  soldier  with 
his  rifle  nor  the  conspirator  with  his  mask,  nor  the 
fool,  fanatic,  or  the  demagogue,  nor  the  king  in 
his  regalia,  nor  the  cleric  with  his  tongue,  nor  the 
editor  with  his  quill,  nor  Satan  with  his  liorus,  nor 
yet  the  millionaire  with  his  millions,  if  they  have 
but  a  fair  field.  The  man  to  be  dreaded  in  this 
republic  is  the  shystering  lawyer;  legal  machina- 
tion is  the  thing  of  menace  and  danger.  It  is  in 
this  country  especially  that  the  people  need  to  be  • 
on  the  alert  against  legal  quibblers ;  here  they  swarm 
as  they  do  nowhere  else  on  the  globe,  not  only  in 
the  courts,  but  in  legislatures  and  their  lobbies,  and 
every  place  of  power  and  greatness. 

"  How  often,  in  searching  amid  the  ruins  of  pop- 
ular properties  in  other  countries  that  once  enjoyed 
them,  do  we  come  upon  the  tracks  of  the  false  lavv- 
ver!  For  what  oppressor  has  he  not  found  a  legal 
subterfuge  ?  For  what  deed  of  guilt  has  he  not 
been  ready  to  erect  a  legal  bulwark?  Do  we  not 
find  him  with  a  legal  defense  of  every  usurpation 
of  every  usurper;  with  a  legal  justification  for  any 
invasion  of  every  birthright  of  man  ;  with  a  legal 
quibble  over  every  great  popular  franchise ;  with  a 
legal  glaze  for  every  clear  word  of  freedom ;  with 
legal  pettifoggery  against  every  establishment  of 
right ;  with  a  legal  weapon  for  nullifying  every  vic- 
tory of  progress ;  with  a  legal  jimmy,  as  Major 
Ilaggerty  lately  said  in  the  Assembly,  to  pry  open 
every  man's  safe  ;  with  legal  mechanism  for  tearing 
out  every  stone  in  the  fabric  of  justice,  and  for  rear- 
ing every  pillar  in  the  edifice  ol:  wrong  ? 


108  THE    NEW    KErUBLIC 

"■  Not  a  guilty  deed  has  ever  been  perpetrated 
by  power ;  not  a  base  treason  has  ever  been  hatched 
against  the  Commonwealth ;  not  a  device  has  ever 
been  set  for  the  subversion  of  any  popular  right — 
but  the  false  lawyer  has  stood  ready  to  uphold  it 
with  the  armament  of  false  legality.  He  battered 
the  Twelve  Tables  of  Rome,  he  made  of  no  effect 
the  Ten  Commandments  of  Moses,  he  stifled  the 
genius  of  Magna  Charta,  and  he  is  now  scuttling 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

The  reform  of  this  monstrous  evil,  so  much 
needed  and  so  essential  to  a  true  republic,  is 
very  simple  and  easy.  The  remedy  may  be 
expressed  in  three  words — Let  it  alone. 

In  all  civil  cases,  provisions  are  made  by  law 
to  settle  all  controversies  by  arbitration.  Let  tfie 
people  settle  their  own  disputes  in  their  own  way, 
and  give  the  lawyers  an  opportunity  to  earn  an 
honest  living.  Some  modifications  may  be  needed 
so  that  all  cases  may  be  settled  in  this  manner.  In 
criminal  cases,  a  similar  method  may  be  employed, 
so  that  courts  may  in  time  cease  to  exist. 

In  the  disposition  of  property  by  inheritance, 
the  vast  amount  of  litigation  and  expense  now 
incurred  in  the  settlement  of  real  estates  of  de- 
ceased persons  could  be  avoided  by  conveying 
the  title  by  deed  of  gift.  Especially  would  this 
eive  almost  infinite  relief  to  wives  of  deceased 
persons  whose  estates  must  be  jirobated  at  an 
enormous  expense,  annoyance,  and  delay. 


REVIEW    OF    OUR    JUDICIARY    SYSTEM.    109 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  power  of  the 
government  is  the  will  of  the  people,  and  that 
that  will  is  sovereign  ;  and  further,  that  the  peo- 
ple are  interested  in  nothing  but  their  advance- 
ment and  welfare,  and  that  reason  and  wisdom 
dictate  the  rule  of  justice. 

All  that  is  needed  is  that  the  people  shall 
agree.  It  would  be  far  better  on  the  score  of 
economy,  as  vastly  more  is  expended  in  litigating 
claims  than  is  claimed  in  litigation.  This  fact 
being  realized,  many  persons  refrain  from  the 
courts  and  suffer  absolute  losses  in  consequence. 
Then  why  should  they  be  su^iif^ained  ? 

This  reform  would  be  reni^^'-ed  easier  by  other 
reforms.  Thus  a  volume  of,  tilon,ey  sufficient  to 
dispense  with  credits  woultl  taky  away  an  im- 
mense amount  of  legal  practice  r  but  as  it  is, 
the  profession  will  favor  a  contnj^^ted  currency 
which  by  compelling  the  extensive  ,'ise  of  credits 
and  legal  instrumentalities  for  the  >yollection  of 
debts,  lawyers  find  amjjle  and  profitaole  employ- 
ment. 

Withholding  natural  rights  from  women,  by 
which  a  vast  amount  of  business  finds  its  way 
into  the  courts,  is  another  source  of  patronage  to 
the  legal  profession.  So,  really,  the  ])eople  sup- 
port a  burden  of  cost  in  the  administration  of 
law  instead  of  justice,  that  supports  and  enriches 


110  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

a  vast  army  of  lawyers,  judges,  and  attaches  to 
the  courts  that  would  support  the  expenditures 
of  government — a  system  in  which  the  most 
money  wins  and  the  defenseless  are  victimized. 

The  subject  of  litigation  in  the  courts  of  jus- 
tice (?)  is  fraught  with  such  vast  importance  to 
the  people  that  any  means  by  which  some  method 
of  litin-ation  can  be  substituted  demands  the  most 
earnest  and  careful  attention  of  the  people.  The 
most  determined  efforts  to  supply  its  place  with 
a  simpler,  safer,  si^eedier,  cheaper,  and  more  ef- 
fectual method  of  settling  difficulties  arising  from 
injuries  unjustly  i,u£fered  is  imperatively  de- 
manded. If  the  jeople  have  confidence  in  their 
friends  and  the  community  in  which  they  live,  if 
they  are  willing  to  appeal  to  those  Avith  whom 
they  are  acquainted  for  the  rectitude  of  their 
purposes  auKf  their  acts,  they  certainly  have  a 
tribunal  io>.  die  adjustment  of  all  controversies 
arising  f roivt  disputed  claims,  and  protection  from 
injuries,  acuial  or  threatened  ;  for  these  purposes 
we  can  easily  devise  and  set  in  operation  a  2)lan 
for  the  adjustment  of  matters  at  variance  with 
those  with  whom  we  deal,  and  protection  from 
personal  injury. 

In  matters  of  a  civil  nature,  a  system  of  ad- 
judication can  be  easily  established.  Indeed, 
such  a  system  already  exists,  and  is  enacted  in 


REVIEW    OF    OUIl    JUDICIAKV    SYSTEM.     Ill 

the  code  of  our  civil  procedure.  It  is  by  arbi- 
tration. Let  it  be  perfected,  and  let  every  well- 
disposed  citizen  resolve  to  resort  to  it.  If  this 
subject  was  discussed  and  made  familiar  to  the 
public  mind,  and  its  advantages  considered  in  all 
their  bearings,  there  need  be  no  difficulty  in  real- 
izing the  vast  benefits  it  would  confer  upon  the 
government  and  society. 

In  regard  to  criminal  proceedings,  no  greater 
difficulty  exists.  Let  an  officer  be  elected  in 
each  local  jurisdiction,  whose  duty  will  be  to  ar- 
rest and  hold  in  custody  an  offender  upon  the 
complaint  of  a  citizen,  issued  by  the  executive 
officer,  with  proper  guards  a:''d  restrictions.  Then 
let  the  accused  select  an  ai--i- trator,  and  the  exe- 
cutive officer  one;  let  these  two  agree  upon  a 
third  ;  if  they  fail,  let  the  accused  select  another 
and  the  officer  the  same,  and  so  continue  until  an 
odd  number  is  secured.  We  have  here  a  court 
and  jury  in  the  same  body  of  men,  ind  far  better 
qualified  to  administer  justice  th-il  any  legal 
court  in  existence,  because  the  courts  are  bound 
by  law  and  precedents,  whereas  this  body  of  men 
are  perfectly  free  to  make  their  decision  accord- 
ing to  the  promptings  of  natural  justice  and  the 
merits  of  that  particular  case.  Or  the  arbitrators 
might  be  drawn  from  a  list  of  citizens — say  one 
hundred. 


112  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

The  chai'ixc  anil  defense  can  now  be  conducted 
in  a  quiet  and  speedy  manner.  Upon  submitting 
the  case,  let  a  majority  determine  the  verdict;  let 
there  be  no  appeal  and  no  further  proceedings  in 
the  matter,  except,  in  case  of  conviction,  the  dis- 
position of  the  criminal. 

The  great  questions  that  have  long  been  in 
dispute,  and  taxed  the  erudition  of  the  greatest 
minds,  involved  considerations  of  lavi  and  not  of 
justice,  whose  demands  are  simple  and  easily  un- 
derstood ;  while  those  of  law  are  extremely  com- 
plicated, abounding  in  subtleties  and  intricacies 
too  deep  for  a  single  mind  to  grasp,  as  evidenced 
by  the  vast  accumuf'ation  of  decisions  found  in 
"  Reports,"  and  carfliiully  preserved  and  consult- 
ed by  the  most  eminent  jurists.  Thus  litigation 
is  tied  up  in  the  endless  mazes  of  the  law. 

The  substitution  of  a  simple,  easy,  natural 
method  would  remove  a  vast  burden  in  the  shape 
of  courts  of  law  and  their  attendant  officers  and 
attorneys,  it  would  save  millions  upon  millions 
to  the  people  which  now  go  to  support  useless  in- 
stitutions and  an  army  of  non-producers  who 
cause  positive  mischiefs  far  in  excess  of  the  nega- 
tive injuries  the  people  sustain  in  supporting 
them. 


STOCK    OrERATIONS.  113 

CHAPTER  yill. 

STOCK   OPERATIONS,  "RINGS,"  AND  "CORNERS." 

"Foul  Avarice!  dread  foe  to  bumau  weal, 
Inflicting  sorrows  that  tlioii  canst  not  lieal; 
Spirit  of  the  gambler's  dreadful  fate, 
That  lures  him  on  to  hell's  grim  gate." 

Within  tlie  last  twenty  years,  speculations  In 
stocks,  in  "  rings,"  and  "  corners  "  on  the  various 
productions  of  the  country  have  grown  into  a 
serious  evil. 

We  read  of  extensive  operations  in  stocks  and 
bonds,  and  suppose  they  are  made  in  good  faith. 
But  such  is  not  the  case.  Watering  stock  is  a 
process  not  easily  detected.  The  purpose  is  to 
obtain  larger  returns  for  money  invested  than 
could  be  openly  charged.  There  is  nothing 
gained  in  watering  stock  of  a  strictly  private 
corporation,  because  no  addition  is  made  to  its 
value  ;  but  public  corporations,  whose  revenues 
are  derived  from  public  service,  see  the  way  to 
immense  profits  through  fictitious  additions  to  the 
amount  of  their  capital  stock.  The  people  do 
not  know  what  the  charges  should  be,  but  are 
satisfied  that  net  profits  should  equal  current 
rates   of    intei'est.      If    one   million   invested   is 


114  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

watered  to  five  millions,  the  investors  will  draw 
five  interests  on  the  amount  put  in.  If  the 
capital  stock  thus  inflated  can  be  made  to  pay 
interest,  its  value  becomes  solid.  It  is  worth  in 
the  iuarket  ivhatever  sum  it  will  pay  dimdends  on. 
The  great  fortunes  which  have  been  acquired 
within  the  last  twenty  years  in  the  United  States 
were  largely  through  this  process. 

The  people  would  not  stand  charges  for  service 
which  would  enable  a  corporation  to  declare  a 
dividend  of  fifty  per  cent  a  year  on  their  invest- 
ment;  but  if  that  investment  is  multiplied  by 
ten,  thus  reducing  their  rate  to  five  per  cent  on 
ten  times  their  capital,  the  matter  seems  to  be 
easily  arranged. 

If  a  laborer  should  demand  pay  for  nine  dum- 
mies of  like  wages  as  his  own,  he  would  be 
severely  and  summarily  dealt  with;  but  untold 
millions  can  be  drawn  from  poor  laborers  by 
scheming  capitalists  on  the  same  principle,  with 
nothing  more  than  a  feeble  protest. 

These  sales  are  generally  fictitious.  As  many 
causes  can  be  brought  to  bear  to  produce  fluc- 
tuations in  the  price  of  stocks,  the  chances  of 
advance  or  decline  are  simply  dealt  in.  Corpo- 
ration rings  congregate  in  money  centers,  and  so 
manipulate  as  to  reduce  the  price  of  stocks  and 
bonds,  purchase  largely,  and  then  manipulate  so 


STOCK    OPERATIONS.  115 

as  to  advance  the  price,  while  the  real  value  is 
not  changed  during  the  entire  transaction. 

Quotations  are  dictated  in  such  a  manner  that 
those  not  in  the  secret  have  no  means  of  know- 
ing their  actual  value,  and  by  false  representa- 
tion are  induced  to  purchase  at  such  figures  as 
to  sustain  a  loss  in  the  transaction.  Or  an  oper- 
ator may  make  a  venture  and  purchase  with  the 
hope  of  an  advance,  and  watch  his  opportunity 
to  sell. 

The  operation  of  speculating  in  stocks  becomes 
intensely  exciting,  as  all  chance  operations  always 
do  when  indulged  in.  Thousands  of  dollars  will 
sometimes  change  hands  in  a  few  hours,  and  some- 
times millions  are  "  made  "  in  a  very  few  days' 
operation.    For  instance : 

"  A  agrees  to  purchase  of  B,  four  days  after  the 
date,  $15,000  in  stocks  quoted  at  93  cents,  at  95 
cents,  being  an  advance  of  two  per  cent  on  the 
market  price  on  the  day  of  sale.  The  stock  does 
not  advance,  and  at  the  time  for  delivery  A  pays  B 
the  margin  between  the  two  cents  on  the  dollar  and 
the  market  price.  No  stock  has  passed  between 
them.  It  was  a  fight  between  a  '  bull '  and  a  '  bear' 
for  the  margin. 

"  Nearly  all  of  the  financial  operations  of  Wall 
Street  brokers  are  of  a  like  character.  Some  of 
them  involve  immense  amounts.  One  man  makes 
a  fortune  and  another  becomes  bankrupt  in  a  day. 
....  Men  run  about  the  streets,  into  the  'gold- 
room'  and  the  'clearing-house,'  their  faces  flushed, 


116  THE  m:\v  republic. 

their  whole  person  excited,  their  appearance  '  dis- 
tracted, hair   disheveled,'  their    voices   hoarse,  all 
intent  on  making  money,  not  in  a  legitimate  way, 
but  by  the  chance  of  a  rise  or  fall  in  bonds  and 
stocks."—!).  (J.  Cloud. 

"  Corners "  are  made  on  pork  or  wheat,  or 
some  other  staple,  by  purchasing  all  in  tlie  mar- 
ket, and  then  holding  it  for  high  prices.  Advan- 
tage is  taken  of  the  supply  in  the  market,  or  the 
chances  of  a  deficiency  of  a  supply,  and  often 
millions  are  realized  in  this  way. 

Combinations  of  capitalists  go  into  the  market, 
and  so  rule  the  price  of  commodities  in  which 
they  deal  as  to  leave  no  option  with  the  producer, 
as  he  is  not  a  party  to  the  contract  in  the  sale  of 
his  products  ;  indeed,  there  is  no  sale ;  they  are 
simply  transferred  into  the  hands  of  these  greedy 
speculators,  and  there  is  no  alternative  left  to  the 
l)roducer  but  putting  the  fruits  of  his  year's  toil 
into  their  hands  and  at  their  price,  or  leaving  his 
produce  on  his  farm  to  rot.  They  stand  between 
him  and  the  market,  and  shut  him  out  from  all 
its  advantages.  He  lias  no  voice  in  the  disposal 
of  his  own  products. 

"  Rings  "  in  the  channels  of  trade  and  business 
continue  to  get  the  lion's  share  of  profit  from  the 
producers  of  wealth.  The  channels  of  business 
are  so  arranged  tliat  the  products  of  the  farmer 
])ass  through  too  many  hands  before  gettlno;  into 


STOCK    OrEKATIO^S.  117 

those  of  the  consumer.  Each  time  they  change 
hands  a  profit  must  be  taken  out  of  them  ;  and  so 
many  pi'ofits  are  exacted  that,  while  the  producer 
receives  barely  enough  to  pay  decent  wages  for 
his  labor  in  producing  them,  his  profits  will 
scarcely  support  his  family. 

Thus,  by  the  machinations  of  a  few  men,  the 
great  multitude  are  ke[)t  at  hard  work,  with  their 
noses  to  the  grindstone,  so  to  speak,  to  eke  out  a 
poor  living  for  themselves,  while  the}'  are  sup- 
porting the  few  in  luxury  and  general  indulgences. 
Those  who  produce  the  means  of  life  for  the 
world  should  have,  at  least,  a  fair  share  in  the 
world's  good  things.  But  things  seem  to  be 
drifting  from  bad  to  worse.  Produce  exchanges 
have  been  organized  for  the  purpose  of  increas- 
ing indefinitely  the  number  of  times  of  the  sale 
of  the  farmers'  crops,  and  thus  to  make  the  dis- 
tance from  the  producer  to  the  consumer  greater, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  cut  down  the  j^i'ices 
to  the  producer  and  put  them  up  to  the  consumer. 
Will  these  two  great  classes  continue  to  be  hood- 
winked in  this  way  by  the  plans  of  the  exchange  ? 

An  adequate  and  just  system  of  the  exchange 
of  commodities  is  a  great  desideratum  of  our  gov- 
ernment. Production  and  consumption  are  the 
vital  and  ever-pressing  necessities  of  life,  and  to 
effect  that  exchanore  so  that  nothinor  is  o-ained  or 


118  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

lost  by  it,  but  the  benefits  of  it  secured,  is  a  prob- 
lem demanding  immediate  solution,  because  frpm 
unjust  exchanges  arise  the  evils  here  treated  of, 
and  others  to  be  considered  hereafter.  This  ex- 
change requires  skill  and  labor,  and  therefore  costs 
something,  and  is  worth  something  to  the  producer 
and  consumer.  What  it  costs  and  lohat  it  is 
Korth  constitute  the  very  essence  of  this  problem. 
AVhat  it  cost  for  the  exchange  by  the  simplest 
and  most  direct  method  is  justly  added  to  the 
price  for  consumption. 

In  proof  of  the  evils  of  this  indirect  and  un- 
just exchange,  the  farmers  point  to  the  enormous 
fortunes  accumulated  by  dealers  in  their  produce 
in  short  periods  of  time ;  they  point  to  their 
lavish  expenditure  of  money  in  providing  costly 
plans  of  business,  in  building  magnificent  resi- 
dences, and  maintaining  costly  modes  of  living 
and  outfits  for  their  families  to  appear  in.  They 
instance  the  fact  that  these  merchants  most 
always  have  long  bank  accounts,  and  can  at  any 
time  when  they  find  a  farmer  in  a  tight  place 
furnish  him  with  money  at  a  high  rate  of  inter- 
est, provided  he  is  well  secured. 

Tiiey  feel  that  the  monopoly  and  combination 
are  coming  to  the  front  and  getting  control  of 
the  cliannels  of  business  and  trade,  till  the  small 
business    men    and    farmers    have    become    the 


STOCK    OPERATIONS.  119 

"  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  "  for 
those  who  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  get  in- 
side the  rings  and  business  combinations. 

Notwithstanding  Grangers'  Associations,  Farm- 
ers'  Alliances,  Trades  Unions,  and  otlier  organiza- 
tions with  a  view  of  checkmating  the  concentration 
of  capital,  and  combinations  for  controlling  the 
business  and  trade,  these  evils  from  which  we 
suffer  are  still  growing  and  becoming  more  ag- 
gressive. 

Thus  the  producer  and  consumer  alike  suffer 
by  "  middle  men  "  pushing  the  burden  of  cost 
upon  them  by  increasing  the  number  of  ex- 
changes, and  cutting  down  prices  to  the  producer 
and  putting  them  up  to  the  consumer. 

The  remedy  for  these  evils  is  co-operation  in 
all  the  industrial  interests  of  the  country.  When 
avarice  is  dethroned  and  justice  rules,  then  unity 
of  interests  will  secure  to  all  the  means  of  life, 
and  ample  time  and  opportunity  will  be  afforded 
for  the  culture  and  enjoyment  of  the  higher  and 
nobler  elements  of  our  being.  In  the  mean  time, 
and  as  a  step  to  this  higher  condition,  let  the 
farmers  and  all  others  who  produce  wealth  em- 
ploy agents  to  whom  they  will  consign  their 
produce  and  purchase  the  necessary  goods  for 
their  consumption.  Let,  for  instance,  thirty  or 
forty  persons  agree  to  pay  into  a  common  fund 


120  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

say  110,000,  eacli  putting  in  according  to  his 
means.  Let  them  meet  and  elect  three  of  their 
number  to  act  as  directors,  wlio  shall  do  the  busi- 
ness for  the  whole.  Let  tliese  directors  enter 
into  bonds,  as  public  officers  are  required  to  do, 
for  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duties.  Let 
the  consignee  and  agent  at  the  place  of  market 
receive  a  certain  commission  for  selling  and  buy- 
ing, and  keep  a  set  of  books  as  a  check  to  those 
kept  by  the  directors.  Let  a  suitable  storehouse 
be  provided  in  a  central  location  for  the  reception 
and  distribution  of  the  goods.  Let  each  contrib- 
utor make  a  memorandum  of  what  he  will  need 
for  the  year  (or  for  any  other  lengtli  of  time), 
and  the  approximate  cost  of  the  same,  for  whicii 
he  is  entitled  to  draw  from  the  common  store- 
house to  the  amount  of  his  contribution.  Let  a 
distributor  or  clerk  who  has  no  interest  in  the 
matter  be  employed  at  a  salary  to  deliver  to  the 
contributors  to  the  extent  of  their  credit,  who 
will  also  keep  a  set  of  books. 

When  the  goods  are  stored,  let  the  price  be 
marked,  including  in  it  the  first  cost,  commission, 
transportation,  cost  of  storage,  distribution,  and 
compensation  of  directors  as  previously  agreed 
upon. 

Or  let  an  association  of  traders  and  manufac- 
turers furnish  the  goods  and  receive  the  produce, 


STOCK    OPERATIONS.  121 

and  thus  save  the  agency  of  "  middle  men." 
Something  like  this  established  among  the  indus- 
trial classes  will  save  to  them  the  profits  that 
now  go  to  enrich  a  class  of  non-producers. 

Where  a  remedy  exists,  let  it  be  applied.  But 
the  grand  remedy  lies  in  the  regulation  and  protec- 
tion of  natural  rights.  The  free  exercise  of  these 
will  secure  to  all  the  greatest  good,  measured 
only  by  the  capacity  of  the  peojjle. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  it  would  be 
proper  to  notice  the  monopoly  of  the  press.  This 
is  the  worst  of  all  monopolies,  not  only  because 
it  prevents  the  publication  of  journals  on  small 
capital,  but  because  intelligence  is  monopolized. 

The  power  of  the  press  is  everywhere  acknowl- 
edged. If  devoted  to  the  interests  and  Avelfare 
of  the  whole,  its  power  for  good  is  inmieasurable  ; 
and  no  less  the  evil  if  given  to  the  service  of  cor- 
porate power  and  associated  capital  in  the  hands 
of  the  few.  In  this,  as  well  as  in  other  cases, 
large  cai)ital  can  only  compete  with  large  capital ; 
but  in  this,  the  increase  of  capital  offers  peculiar 
facilities.  The  supply  of  published  matter  is  in- 
creased without  a  corresponding  outlay  of  expen- 
diture. Thus  the  second  thousand  copies  of  a 
paper  is  attended  with  only  the  additional  cost  of 
paper,  pi-ess-work,  and  the  distribution.  In  case 
of  fifty  thousand  copies,  dividing  the  whole  cost 
G 


122  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

by  that  number,  the  cost  of  one  tliousand  would 
be  much  less  proportionally  than  could  be  af- 
forded for  a  single  thousand  copies.  So  the 
monopoly  is  made  nuich  easier  than  that  of  other 
enterprises. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  press  caters  to  selfish 
interests,  and  is  effectually  controlled  in  the 
interests  of  the  oligarchy,  to  monopolize  the 
intelligence  of  the  country  and  shape  it  so  as  to 
control  public  sentiment.  We  offer  the  follow- 
ing, copied  from  an  Eastern  paper,  which  will  ex- 
plain itself : 

"  The  real  truth  coucerning  the  capitalistic 
press  of  America  was  uttered  by  a  prominent  New 
York  journalist  at  a  press  dinner  a  short  time  since. 
The  reunion  on  that  occasion  was  of  men  who 
write  and  do  the  real  work  on  the  papers — the 
drudges.  When  the  hackneyed  and  ridiculous 
toast,  '  The  Independent  Press,'  was  proposed,  the 
j  jurnalist  referred  to,  being  called  on  to  respond, 
said  he  did  not  wish  to  do  so,  but  the  company  in- 
sisted upon  it  with  loud  acclamations.  He  finally 
arose  and  said  :  '  There  is  no  such  a  thing  in  Amer- 
ica as  an  independent  press,  unless  it  is  out  in 
country  towns.  You  are  all  slaves.  You  know  it, 
and  I  know  it.  There  is  not  one  of  you  who  dares 
to  express  an  honest  opinion.  If  you  expressed  it, 
you  would  know  beforehand  that  it  would  never 
appear  in  print.  I  am  paid  $150  for  keeping  hon- 
est opinions  out  of  the  paper  I  am  connected  with. 
Others  of  you  are  paid  similar  salaries  for  doing 
similar  things.     If  I  should  allow  honest  opinions 


STOCK    OPERATIONS.  123 

to  be  printed  in  one  issue  of  my  paper,  I  would  be 
like  Othello  before  twenty-four  hours :  my  occupa- 
tion would  be  gone. 

" '  The  man  who  would  be  so  foolish  as  to  write 
honest  oj)iuions  would  be  out  on  the  street  hunting 
for  another  job.  The  business  of  a  New  York 
journalist  is  to  distort  the  truth,  to  lie  outright,  to 
pervert,  to  villify,  to  fawn  at  the  feet  of  Mammon, 
and  to  sell  his  country  and  his  race  for  his 
daily  bread,  or  for  what  is  about  the  same — his  sal- 
ary. You  know  this,  and  I  know  it;  and  what 
foolery  to  be  toasting  an  "Independent  Press"! 
We  are  the  tools  and  vassals  of  rich  men  behind 
the  scenes.  We  are  jumping-jacks.  They  pull  the 
string  and  we  dance.  Our  time,  our  talents,  our 
lives,  our  possibilities,  are  all  the  property  of  other 
men.     We  are  intellectual  pj'ostitutes.'' 

"The  bloom  of  sorrowful  conviction  fell  upon 
the  company,  and  the  over-truthful  journalist  took 
his  seat  in  profound  silence." 

The  control  of  telegraphic  communication  in 
connection  with  the  press  places  journalism  be- 
yond the  control  of  the  people.  In  this  way 
public  sentiment  is  swayed  in  spite  of  all  efforts 
to  prevent  it. 

Smaller  enterprises  are  shut  out  because  they 
cannot  afford  to  publish  at  the  rates  of  large  es- 
tablishments. Tims  the  press,  a  power  of  incal- 
culable influence,  aided  by  the  telegraph,  is  made 
the  instrument  of  tyranny  and  oppression. 

What  is  the  remedy  for  this  great  monopoly  ? 
Patronize  ])ublications  that  enlighten  the  people 


124  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

and  advocate  their  interests,  that  fearlessly  dis- 
cuss all  questions  connected  with  human  welfare. 
Let  the  subscription  lists  of  such  papers  be  in- 
creased to  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands. 
Then  they  could  be  furnished  much  cheaper  and 
become  more  efficient.  Do  the  peo})le  consider 
that  by  supporting  the  subsidized  press  they 
furnish  the  weapons  by  which  they  are  robbed, 
and  bare  their  necks  for  the  master's  collar  ?  Is 
it  possible  that  they  cannot  see  this  ? 

The  people's  will,  intelligence,  and  energy 
must  combat  the  corporations'  capital ;  and  thus 
by  united  effort  the  monopoly  of  the  press  will 
be  destroyed. 


NATURAL    RIGHTS    CONSIDERED.  125 

CHAPTER  IX. 

NATURAL    RIGHTS    CONSIDERED. 

"If  I'm  designed  yon  lordling's  slave — 

By  Nature's  law  designed — 
"Why  was  an  independent  wish 

E'er  planted  in  my  mind? 
If  not,  why  am  I  subject  to 

His  cruelty  and  scorn? 
Or,  why  has  man  the  will  and  power 

To  make  his  fellow  mourn?" 

Natural  rights  being  founded  on  the  neces- 
sities and  requirements  of  life,  and  the  sole  and 
legitimate  objects  of  popular  government  being 
their  regulation  and  protection,  it  is  proposed 
here  to  consider  them  in  their  relation  to  such 
government. 

The  right  of  personal  liberty  has  been  so 
thoroughly  discussed  and  appreciated  that  little 
requires  to  be  said  in  regard  to  it.  The  love  of 
liberty  is  so  intense  that  its  protection  is  one 
of  the  first  provisions  of  civilized  life.  The 
machinations  of  ambitious  men  have  secured 
schemes  for  the  accomplishment  of  their  pur- 
poses in  absorbing  the  fruits  of  labor,  and  the 
personal  liberty  of  the  wealth-producer  is  more 
favorable  for  that.     Moreover,  the   interests  of 


126  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

such  men  would  rather  suffer  than  otherwise  by 
the  abridgnient  of  personal  liberty.  More  profit 
can  be  realized  by  the  labor  of  those  whose  means 
of  life  are  controlled  than  those  in  whom  the  em- 
ployer has  the  right  of  property. 

The  wealth  produced  by  labor  is  the  object 
sought,  and  the  poverty  of  the  wealth-producer 
is  the  condition  that  best  serves  their  purposes. 
Therefore  it  is  in  the  right  to  the  means  of  life 
we  find  the  subject  under  consideration. 

1.   Right  of  Land  Tenure. 

It  is  from  the  soil  that  all  physical  sustenance 
is  derived ;  and  as  we  are  constantly  consum- 
ing, we  must  as  constantly  replenish.  Every 
breath  we  exhale,  every  muscle  we  move,  every 
thought  we  think,  is  at  the  expense  of  consumed 
value,  and  requires  as  constant  a  supply.  Land 
is  the  all-sufficient  source  from  which  these  sup- 
plies are  derived  ;  therefore  the  occupancy  and 
use  of  the  soil  becomes  a  necessity  in  the  pro- 
duction for  consumption. 

The  value  of  land,  tlien,  consists  in  its  power 
to  supply  the  demand  for  the  consumption  of 
values.  As  all  have  a  claim  to  these  values, 
based  on  the  necessities  of  life,  it  follows  that 
the  right  to  produce  tliem,  either  directly  from 
the  land,  or  indirectly  by  enhancing  the  value  of 


NATURAL    RIGHTS    CONSIDERED.  127 

its  raw  productions  by  manufacture,  is  equal  to 
such  claim.     In  general  terms  : 

The  right  to  live  carries  with  it  the  right  to 
the  means  of  life ;  the  means  of  life  are  derived 
from  the  land ;  therefore  the  right  to  the  land, 
to  those  who  desire  to  occupy  and  use  it,  is  equal 
to  the  right  to  live. 

The  regulation  and  protection  of  this  right  is 
one  of  the  essential  and  most  important  functions 
of  government,  and  indispensable  to  the  freedom 
and  equality  of  the  peoplQ. 

The  land  of  a  country  belongs  to  the  people 
of  that  country,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  govern- 
ment to  secure  to  all  its  citizens  its  fullest  possi- 
ble benefits.  Land  monopoly  is  robbery;  though 
under  the  forms  and  sanctions  of  law,  and  ratified 
by  the  decisions  of  courts,  and  established  by  cus- 
tom grown  gray  with  age,  still  it  is  robbery.  All 
the  edicts  of  autocrats,  the  bulls  of  popes,  the 
power  of  legislatures,  and  the  authority  of  courts 
cannot  make  a  wrong  right  nor  a  right  wrong ; 
and  although  untold  millions  have  been  impov- 
erished and  enslaved  by  land  monopoly,  it  is  no 
less  bitter  on  that  account.  This  evil  grows  as 
population  increases,  and  it  must  inevitably  result 
in  oppression  and  despotism,  landlordism  and  serf- 
dom. As  population  increases,  the  value  of  the 
land  increases  just  in  proportion  as  the  increase 


128  THE    NEW    RErUBLIC. 

of  demand  gives  increased  value  to  supplies. 
Both  the  cultivated  and  wild  lands  of  this  coun- 
try are  rapidly  going  into  the  hands  of  monop- 
olists, who  are  thus  laying  the  foundation  for 
absolute  despotism. 

The  family  is  the  foundation  of  society,  the 
fountain  of  virtue,  and  the  basis  of  government ; 
and  the  character  of  that  society  and  government 
will  depend  very  largely  upon  the  permanence 
and  ownership  of  the  homes  of  the  people.  If 
owned  by  the  occupants,  every  inducement  to 
improve  and  beautify  it  is  given ;  if  rented,  neg- 
lect of  both  is  the  rule.  The  former  conduces  to 
sobriety,  industry,  and  social  improvement ;  the 
latter  to  recklessness  and  disorder.  These  con- 
ditions materially  affect  the  character  of  the  gov- 
ernment. The  rental  generally  takes  from  the 
tenant  all  his  net  jjrofits,  which  has  the  effect  to 
discourage  and  impoverish — conditions  incompat- 
ible with  good  government.  The  rents  so  de- 
manded go  to  eni'ich  idleness,  build  up  class 
distinctions,  and  by  destroying  equality  make 
republican  government  impossible. 

Therefore,  a  radical  change  in  the  system  of 
land  tenures  is  an  imperative  and  absolute  ne- 
cessity. Those  who  live  on  the  land  must  own 
it,  and  those  who  own  it  must  cultivate  it.  There 
is  no  more  justice  or  propriety  in  withholding 


NATURAL    RIGHTS    CONSIDERED.  129 

land  from  others  for  use,  or  demanding  pay  for 
the  use  of  it,  than  there  is  for  withholdinof  sun- 
light  or  air  ;  the  only  difference  being  that  the 
one  can  be  appropriated  and  the  others  cannot. 
It  is  given  for  the  support  of  all,  and  not  for 
speculation  or  the  upbuilding  of  power. 

Our  fathers  sought  to  avoid  the  evils  of  land 
monopoly  by  proscribing  primogeniture  and  en- 
tails ;  but  corporations  have  accumuluted  its 
millions  where  primogeniture  has  preserved  its 
thousands. 

B.  S.  Heath,  of  Chicago,  has  given  a  clear  and 
forcible  exposition  of  this  subject.     He  says : 

"Our  fathers  recognized  this  laAv  (primogeni- 
ture), and  supposed  they  had  guarded  against  its 
abuse  and  violation  by  providing  equal  distribution 
of  estates  among  the  heirs  of  deceased  persons. 

"No  accumulation  of  wealth,  however  large,  long 
survives  its  owner,  if  left  free  from  legal  restraints. 
It  was  the  boast  of  our  ])eople  that  all  were  equal 
before  the  law,  and  that  the  prize  of  wealth  was  the 
reward  of  the  most  industrious  and  enterprising. 
As  a  rule,  the  heirs  of  wealth  soon  squander  their 
patrimony.  They  were  the  autumn  frosts  which 
caused  the  leaves  of  the  summer's  growth  to  fall 
back  to  enrich  the  labor  soil,  to  be  again  gathered 
up  by  the  resolute  and  ambitious  sons  of  poverty. 
As  a  rule,  the  rich  men  were  the  '  self-made  men.' 

"In  this  way  the  wealth  accumulations  of  each 

generation  fall  like  the  dews  of  heaven  upon  the 

toilers  of  the  next;  and  thus  social  conditions  were 

equalized.     Consequently  there  were  few  paupers 

6* 


130  THE    NEW   REPUBLIC. 

and  fewer  millionaires.  Comparative  equality  of 
social  conditions  formed  a  deep  and  permanent 
foundation  for  a  just  and  permanent  government, 

equable   laws,  and  purity  of  administration 

The  productive  forces  of  society  consisted  of  muscle 
and  bi-ain. 

"  Since  that  time  great  changes  have  taken  place. 
Occult  forces,  never  dreamed  of,  have  supplanted 
skill  and  muscle.  A  ton  of  coal  and  a  hogshead  of 
water  will  do  the  work  of  a  hundred  men.  The 
steam-horse  and  his  train  of  a  hundred  tons  fly  like 
meteors  from  town  to  town  and  from  ocean  to 
ocean.  The  lightnings  have  been  harnessed  to  the 
car  of  thought,  and  messages  are  flashed  over  the 
continent  and  across  the  ocean  sooner  than  the 
post-boy  of  a  century  ago  could  saddle  his  horse. 
Our  houses  are  warmed  and  lighted  and  the  motive 
power  of  the  nation's  manufactures  and  commerce 
are  supplied  from  the  storehouses  of  nature,  which 
were  locked  against  the  generation  of  fifty  years 
ago.  These  have  been  developed  outside  the  Con- 
stitution. To  handle  and  control  them  a  new  class 
of  persons,  unknown  to  the  framers  of  our  govern- 
ment, have  been  created.  Corporations  instead  of 
77ien  have  come  to  the  front.  Upon  these  new  ele- 
ments and  forces  incorporated  greed  and  avarice 
have  seized,  as  the  Norman  conqueror  seized  upon 
the  wealth  resources  of  Britain,  and  upon  these  a 
new  empire  has  been  established  in  the  land  of  the 
free  outside  of  the  Constitution  and  the  people. 

"  Upon  them  a  new  feudal  system  has  been  inau- 
gurated and  a  new  law  of  primogeniture  established. 
Corporations  are  substitutes  for  dukedoms,  baronies, 
and  lordships,  and  the  estates  of  this  new  feudalism 
are  as  effectually  immortalized  by  government 
charters  as  were  their  prototypes  by  the  Magna 
Charta.     And   the   perpetuation   of    these  estates, 


NATURAL    RIGHTS    CONSIDERED.  131 

with  their  increasing  annual  accumulations  from 
the  labor  soil,  will  as  su-'ely  impoverish,  degrade, 
and  enslave  American  society  as  the  same  causes 
have  exhausted  the  manhood  of  England,  as  their 
l^ossessions  and  capacity  for  absorption  are  greater. 
"Our  Constitution  must  be  enlarged  so  as  to  em- 
brace these  monopolies  and  bring  them  into  subjec- 
tion to  the  people's  interests,  or  they  will  root  out 
the  Constitution  and  establish  an  aristocracy  upon 
the  ruins  of  liberty  and  constitutional  government." 

It  is  affirmed,  and  will  be  clearly  shown  in  these 
pages,  that  the  condition  so  forcibly  described 
above  already  exists.  It  is  only  the  comparative 
sparseness  of  population  that  prevents  the  devel- 
opment of  a  system  even  worse  than  that  cf  Irish 
landlordism ;  for  had  the  territorial  limits  not 
been  enlarged,  a  condition  worse  than  Eux'opean 
peasantry  would  have  overtaken  us  long  ago. 
These  limits  are  reached,  or  nearly  so ;  and  as 
the  land  is  rapidly  going  into  a  few  hands,  the 
power  that  monopoly  gives  will  crush  out  the 
liberties  of  the  people;  for  he  who  owns  the  land 
by  the  authority  of  our  land  laws  owns  and  con- 
trols those  who  live  upon  it,  provided  they  can- 
not get  off,  and  the  press  of  population  will  soon 
prevent  them. 

The  value  of  land  consists  in  its  power  to  sup- 
ply the  demands  of  consumption,  and  a  popula- 
tion to  create  such  demand.  Without  population, 
land  of  the  greatest  fertility  and  with  all  the 
appurtenances    of    natural   resources    would   be 


132  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

totally  valueless,  and  justice  demands  that  they 
who  create  it  should  have  and  enjoy  it;  but  under 
our  laws  of  land  tenure,  that  value  goes  to  the 
monopolizers  of  the  land  without  their  adding 
anything  to  its  value.  If  all  who  desire  to  oc- 
cupy and  use  the  land  could  do  so,  that  value 
would  go  to  them.  Thus  equality  of  conditions 
growing  out  of  equality  of  rights  would  secure 
freedom  and  prosperity  to  the  people. 

The  right  to  hold  the  land  and  secure  a 
permanent  title  to  it  should  be  most  carefully 
guarded,  and  should  descend  by  equal  inheri- 
tance by  legal  })rovisions.  The  law  of  primogeni- 
ture and  entail  are  virtually  in  foi'ce,  since  the 
owner  of  land  can  devise,  by  gift  or  otherwise, 
his  entire  possessions  to  one  person  and  secure 
perpetuity  by  corporate  charter.  The  rights  of 
future  generations  should  be  protected  as  well  as 
the  living. 

Monopoly  of  land  gives  to  the  holders  of  it 
the  power  to  levy  contributions  upon  the  cultiva- 
tors of  it ;  which  power  is  granted  by  usurped 
rights  in  direct  violation  of  the  law  of  justice. 
It  is  equally  as  unjust  to  demand  tribute  for  the 
use  of  land  as  to  lay  a  tribute  on  the  personal 
service  of  another  for  private  gain.  Land  is 
given  for  the  use  of  all :  it  is  the  product  of 
none ;  and  as  all  need  its  products,  all  are  equally 
entitled  to  the  right  to  produce  them. 


FINANCE.  133 


CHAl'TER  X. 

NATURAL    RIGHTS    CONSIDERED  (CONTINUED). 

FINANCE. 

"  The  simplest  and  most  jierfect  form  of  currency  is  that 
■wliicli  represents  nothing  but  transferable  debt,  and  of  wliich 
the  material  is  of  no  intrinsic  value,  such  as  pai^er.  It  is 
only  when  states  have  reached  a  high  degree  of  civilization 
that  they  adopt  this  perfect  form;  before  they  attain  that, 
the  material  of  it  entirely  consists  of  something  which 
has  an  intrinsic  value,  such  as  gold  or  silver."— J/acfeod. 

The  exchange  of  values  is  a  necessity  of  civil- 
ized nations,  and  requires  a  medium  of  currency 
to  effect  such  exchange.  This  medium  is  money. 
It  is  a  token  or  representative  of  value  based 
upon  the  wealth  of  the  nation,  and  by  the 
authority  of  the  government  declared  a  legal 
tender  for  all  debts,  public  and  private.  The 
issue  of  such  money  and  the  control  of  its  vol- 
ume in  circulation  are  natural  rights,  the  free 
use  and  exercise  of  which  are  the  indispensable 
requisites  of  republican  government. 

The  question  of  finance  is  one  of  pressing  and 
vital  importance  to  the  people  of  a  free  govern- 
ment. The  principles  involved  in  it  and  their 
application  to  the  best  uses  of  life  must  be  clearly 
understood. 


134  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

Finance  is  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  political 
economy,  and  hirgely  governs  the  distribution  of 
wealth  equally,  and  thus'*erves  its  true  purpose, 
or  unequally,  and  thus  overthrows  republican 
government,  as  the  people  are  wise  or  unwise. 
Equal  distribution  depends  on  equal  exchange, 
which  is  the  sole  function  of  money.  By  it 
"wealth  is  secured  to  the  producers  of  it  for 
their  enjoyment  and  benefit,  resulting  in  peace, 
plenty,  and  happiness.  By  unequal  distribution, 
millionaires  and  paupers  are  made,  monopolies 
built  up  to  rob  and  oppress,  thereby  creating 
political  inequalities,  the  legitimate  outcome  of 
Avhich  is  the  relation  of  rulers  and  ruled,  master 
and  slave. 

Because  of  its  vast  importance,  it  has  been 
controlled  in  the  interest  of  the  few  who  have 
managed  to  secure  its  ])ower  to  themselves. 
They  have  clothed  it  in  mystery  and  woven 
around  it  such  an  intricate  network  of  theories 
and  speculations  that  the  people  despair  of  com- 
prehending its  nature  and  functions,  thus  secur- 
ing to  those  few  its  control  for  their  own  benefit. 
Thi'ough  the  monstrous  robbery  of  banking  sys- 
tems, millions  upon  millions  have  been  drawn 
from  industry  to  enrich  idleness ;  and  the  people 
tolerate  this  because  they  do  not  understand  the 
means  by  Avhich  it  is  done. 


FINANCE.  135 

Had  the  people  fully  understood  this  impor- 
tant subject,  they  would  never  have  been  cursed 
with  a  bonded  debt  ;  yv'ith  banking  corporations 
cstablitshed  for  no  otl^^'r  purpose  than  individual 
aggrandizement ;  with  a  restricted  basis  for 
money,  enabling  greedy  and  unscrupulons  spec- 
ulators to  control  its  volume,  and  thus  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  necessities  of  industry,  to  levy 
contributions  upon  it  under  the  name  of  interest 
for  the  privilege  of  using  it ;  with  the  stagnation 
of  business  and  the  ruin  of  many  industrial  enter- 
prises ;  and  many  other  evils  consequent  upon  a 
false  and  defective  monetary  system,  as  the  inev- 
itable and  calamitous  results  to  the  people. 

As  an  instrument  of  exchange,  it  has  no  intrin- 
sic value.  It  being  only  a  legal  power,  there 
was  no  necessity  of  creating  a  debt,  for  money  is 
simply  a  legal  device  for  exchanging  one  com- 
modity for  another,  or  a  service  for  a  commodity, 
by  which  the  holder  of  it  can  at  any  time  or 
place  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  government 
demand  any  commodity  within  the  circle  of  ex- 
change, or  service  seeking  compensation. 

Since  money  has  for  its  sole  and  legitimate  ob- 
ject and  function  the  ecpial  exchange  of  values, 
whereby  equal  distribution  is  effected,  every 
wealth-producer  could  by  such  exchange  retain 
and  enjoy  the  full  value  of  the  wealth  he  pro- 


136  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

duced  in  any  and  every  commodity  lie  needs  or 
desires.  No  one  could  become  excessively  rich, 
for  he  could  not  accumul.ate  by  exchanges — for 
the}^  would  be  equal ;  anc^none  need  be  poor  or 
dejjendent,  for,  based  upon  the  equality  of  ex- 
change, the  race  for  wealth  would  be  free  and 
open  for  all. 

To  show  the  benefits  of  a  true  monetary  sys- 
tem and  the  evils  of  a  false  one,  and  the  power 
of  money  corporations  to  rob  and  enslave  the 
people,  the  following  definitions  and  illustrations 
will  suffice : 

Market  value  is  based  on  intrinsic  or  real  val- 
ue, and  is  determined  by  tiie  law  of  supply  and 
demand,  and  is  simply  the  money  expression 
[price]  of  such  value.  The  variations  of  supply, 
the  demand  remaining  fixed,  or  the  variations 
of  demand,  the  supply  remaining  fixed — such 
variations  determining  the  price — are  expressed 
in  money ;  and  as  money  represents  value,  as 
long  as  the  volume  of  money  remains  fixed  ag- 
ffreo-ate  values  remain  unchanged.  If  supplv 
increases,  prices  go  down  just  to  that  point 
that  any  given  quantity  will  amount  to  the  same 
money  value.  Thus,  if  the  money  volume  be  one 
million  dollars,  and  all  commodity  values  one 
million  bushels  of  wheat,  the  price  will  be  one 
dollar  a  bushel ;  if  the  supply  of  the  commodity 


FINANCE.  137 

is  doubled,  the  value  it  represents  (one  million 
dollars)  remaining  fixed,  the  price  is  reduced  to 
that  point  that  the  given  quantity  will  amount 
to  the  same  money  value — that  is,  two  million  of 
bushels  at  half  a  dollar  a  bushel  just  equals  one 
million  at  one  dollar  a  bushel.  The  converse  is 
equally  true :  the  supply  reduced  one  half,  the 
price  will  be  two  dollars  a  bushel.  In  a  season 
favorable  for  production,  the  increased  supply 
will  bring  only  the  same  money  value  ;  the  low 
price  is  supplemented  by  increase  of  commodities. 
In  a  season  unfavorable,  the  diminished  supply 
will  bring  the  same  money  value ;  because  it  will 
be  supplemented  by  high  prices. 

Free  from  all  modifying  conditions,  this  is  the 
law  of  market  values.  Fluctuations  of  supply 
and  demand  are  in  a  great  measure  beyond  hu- 
man control ;  but  by  the  increase  in  the  power  of 
production,  as  science  and  the  arts  advance,  and 
facilities  for  transportation  increase,  these  fluctu- 
ations can  be  materially  controlled. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  variations  in  the  vol- 
ume of  money  affects  prices  as  effectually  ;  and 
this  volume  is  wholly  under  human  control ;  for 
so  long  as  it  is  uniform,  its  representative  value 
remains  fixed,  but  any  change  in  volume  carries 
with  it  a  corresponding  change  in  value.  Thus, 
in  the  illustration  above  given,  doubling  the  vol- 


138  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

ume  of  money  would  reduce  its  value,  as  ex- 
pressed in  units,  to  one  half,  and  the  money 
expression  in  wheat  would  be  two  dollars  a 
bushel ;  reducing  the  volume  to  one  half  would 
double  its  unit  value,  and  wheat  would  be  half 
a  dollar  a  bushel.  By  changing  its  volume  we 
change  its  unit  value;  and  since  prices  are  ex- 
pressed in  units  of  value,  market  price  is  changed 
to  correspond  with  changed  value  of  the  unit, 
and  though  aggregate  values  are  not  affected, 
prices  are,  which  enable  those  who  control  the 
money  volume  to  take  advantage  of  the  fluctua- 
tions they  create. 

The  evils  arise  from  the  unsteady  and  fluctuat- 
ing volume  of  money,  whereby  prices,  which  are 
money  expressions  of  value,  change  without 
change  of  supply  of  commodities.  Prices  are 
thus  controlled  by  those  who  control  the  volume 
of  money,  thus  leaving  the  wealth-producer  at 
the  mercy  of  the  money-changer. 

Since  the  unit  value  of  money  increases  as  the 
volume  diminishes,  and  debts  are  estimated  in 
units  of  value,  their  value  increases  in  propor- 
tion as  the  volume  is  reduced.  If  A  contracts 
a  debt  when  tlie  volume  of  money  is  $50  per 
capita,  and  the  volume  is  reduced  to  |25  per  cap- 
ita, the  value  of  his  debt  is  doubled;  if  it 
would  require  a  thousand  bushels  of    wheat  to 


FINAXCE.  139 

pay  it  at  the  time  lie  contracted  it,  upon  a  change 
of  volume,  as  above  noticed,  it  would  require 
two  thousand  bushels,  the  supply  of  commodities 
remaining  the  same. 

The  total  amount  of  debts  in  the  United  States 
—  public  and  private  —  is  over  twenty  billions, 
most  of  which  was  contracted  when  the  volume 
:of  money  was  double  its  present  volume.  Be- 
sides intei'est,  it  will  cost  the  debtors  nearly 
double  that  amount  to  pay  their  debts. 

With  an  adequate  volume  of  money,  prices 
are  firm  and  steady  (for  deuiand  is  very  nearly 
uniform  from  year  to  year),  i  nd  industry  is  stim- 
ulated and  encouraged,  a^^l  wealth  increases. 
Diminish  the  volume,  credit  for  a  time  takes  the 
plac.T  of  money,  and  business  goes  on  for  a  while ; 
bu*,  :bligations  must  be  met,  money  increases  in 
va¥u'  as  it  diminishes  in  volume,  and  debts  in- 
cre(ist.  in  the  same  proportion.  Prices  go  down, 
the  demand  for  labor  diminishes,  industi'y  lan- 
guishes, and  thus  what  the  wealth-producers  lose 
the  money-changers  gain. 

After  debts  have  been  paid  and  balances  ad- 
justed on  the  basis  of  increased  money  value, 
the  volume  is  inci'eased ;  prices  go  up,  business 
is  revived,  enterprises  are  extended,  and  every- 
thing begins  to  prosper,  and  will  continue  so  long 
as  the  volume  of  money  keeps  up.     Another  con- 


140  TflE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

tr.iction,  and  the  same  evil  results  to  the  people 
follow.  The  control  of  supplies  —  that  is,  power 
of  production — is  in  a  great  measure  dependent 
on  the  facilities  afforded  by  an  adequate  volume 
of  money ;  but  as  a  rule,  price  is  controlled  by 
the  volume  of  money  and  determines  the  amount 
of  values  that  go  to  the  money-changers,  or  that 
■which  remains  in  the  hands  of  those  who  pro- 
duce it. 

If  the  law  declares  that  money  shall  be  stamped 
on  only  one  material,  and  that  material  limited  in 
quantity,  it  can  be  controlled  by  individuals  and 
corporations,  and  tJuis  labor  and  all  its  products 
will  be  controlled  ^-oivv  its  net  profits  go  to  them  ; 
but  if  the  material  Uj^jon  which  it  is  stamped  be 
abundant  and  merely  nominal  in  value,  the  vol- 
ume of  money  can  at  all  times  be  adjusted  tc^{,vie 
requirements  of  the  industrial  interests  of  th»  |(ia- 
tion,  and  controlled  by  the  people  for  their  use 
and  benefit. 

The  first  theory  of  creating  money  (that  of 
intrinsic  value)  is  open  to  several  serious  and 
one  fatal  objection.  Among  the  serious  ones  are 
tlie  limited  supply  of  the  material,  the  cost  of 
its  production,  and  tlie  destruction  of  its  com- 
modity value  when  coined  into  money.  Its  fatal 
objection  consists  in  the  power  it  has  to  measure 
all  values — by  representing  them  —  thus  giving 


FIXAXCE.  141 

its  holders  the  command  of  all  values,  and  con- 
trolling the  most  important  function  of  govern- 
ment. 

"  It  may  be  truly  and  incontrovertibly  said  that 
the  power  of  money  over  the  affairs  of  enterprise 
and  labor  is  omnipotent ;  and  that  they  who  con- 
trol the  money  of  a  people,  control  their  destinies 
as  surely  and  irresistibly  as  the  sun  controls  the 
movements  of  the  planets  of  tlie  solar  system.  For 
those  who  control  the  character  of  people's  money 
thereby  have  it  in  their  power  to  fix  the  price  of  all 
kinds  of  property  and  labor  at  any  conceivable 
rate,  and  to  change  the  rates  or  prices  from  time 
to  time,  as  their  private  interests  dictate." — Bryant 
on  Moneij. 

This  power  of  law  ves^-.tl  in  corporations  is 
despotism.  Such  is  the  law — a  monetary  sys- 
tem based  on  the  "  precious  metals,"  that  enable 
a  f.jw  to  control  the  many  and  hold  the  entire 
pv*luctive  interests  of  the  people  in  their  hands. 
And  the  people  profess  to  be  free,  pretend  they 
have  a  government  founded  on  their  natural 
rights,  and  that  they  are  in  the  full  and  free 
enjoyment  of  them ! 

"  It  is  such  considerations  as  these,"  says  the 
same  writer,  "  coupled  with  the  knowledge  his- 
tory gives  us  of  '  man's  inhumanity  to  man,' 
that  forces  us  to  acknowledge  that  it  is  unstates- 
manlike,  unjust,  and  even  inhuman  to  have  so 
despotic  a  power  as  that  whicii  resides  in   and 


142  riii:  xi:w  hepublic. 

flows  from  the  quantity  of  the  people's  money,  to 
any  principle  based  on  mere  chance  like  the  dis- 
covery or  exhaustion  of  gold  and  silver  mines, 
or  to  the  justice  of  any  body  of  men,  no  matter 
what  their  pretensions  may  be  to  intelligence, 
respectability,  or  honor.  It  is  a  question  of  gov- 
ernment, not  a  whit  less  fundamental  and  impor- 
tant than  that  of  the  liberties  of  the  people." 

The  true  method  for  the  exchange  of  values  is 
by  a  legal  instrument,  the  creature  of  law,  based 
upon  the  wealth  and  credit  of  the  nation  and 
the  authority  of  the  government.  It  expresses 
three  powers,  and  only  three  :  first,  it  must 
represent  the  valuc^^-jf  all  exchangeable  com- 
modities :  this  is  ito  ^'Siwer  to  exchange  values ; 
second,  it  must  bear  upon  its  face  the  unit  of 
value :  this  is  its  power  to  estimate  and  compute 
values  ;  third,  to  provide  for  time-transactionri<it 
must  be  receivable  for  all  debts  and  dues,  pi&blic 
and  private.  By  this  legal-tender  power,  it  pro- 
tects the  debtor  from  the  avarice  and  tyranny  of 
the  creditor.  It  represents  value,  therefore  it 
should  be  wherever  value  is,  either  in  labor  or 
its  products.  It  is  a  universal  acknowledgment 
of  value  given,  and  a  universal  willingness  to 
accept  it  for  any  purchasable  tiling  or  the  can- 
cellation of  any  pecuniary  obligation.  So  those 
who  desire  it  can  readily  exchange  any  exchange- 


FIXAXCE.  143 

able  value  they  desire  for  it ;  those  who  hold  it 
can  command  any  service  or  cotnniodity  in  the 
market,  transfer  or  convert  values  into  other 
values,  and  protect  tlieraselves  from  all  obligations 
to  their  financial  creditors. 

Value  belongs  to  those  who  produce  it  with 
their  own  means.  All  expend  values  in  con- 
sumption, whether  they  earn  them  or  not ;  con- 
sequently, those  who  do  not  produce  must 
subsist  on  those  who  do  ;  for  since  justice  requires 
equalitij  of  exclianrje.,  there  can  be  no  accumula- 
tion by  the  instrument  of  exchange  ;  therefore, 
he  who  consumes  without  in  some  way  producing 
value  is  an  object  of  char'ty,  a  beggar,  a  thief, 
or  a  robber.  To  effect  'tl^^  fair  and  equal  ex- 
change of  values  is  the  sole  purpose  and  legiti- 
ma-e  function  of  money.  It  possesses  no  intrinsic 
var'e  ;  therefore,  to  receive  pay  for  its  use  would 
be  like  receiving  pay  for  the  use  of  any  other 
legal  power  that  does  not  possess  intrinsic  value. 

Without  going  into  details  to  show  that  our 
exchanges  through  the  agency  of  money  are 
unfair,  it  is  only  necessary  to  point  to  the  fact 
that  producers,  as  a  class,  are  poor,  and  those 
who  jiroduce  nothing,  but  control  the  medium  of 
exchange  (money),  are  as  a  class  wealthy.  All 
the  money  employed  in  the  industrial  pursuits  of 
the    country  is    borrowed  at    a  rate   of  interest 


144  THE    NEAV    REPUBLIC. 

far  above  tlte  power  to  increase  net  wealth  by 
productive  labor.  This  condition  of  things  must 
in  the  end  inipoveri.'?h  the  wealth-producers. 

AVe  cannot  maintain  free  government  with  our 
present  financial  system,  for  such  government  is 
founded  on  political  equality,  and  this  cannot  ex- 
ist where  wealth  is  accumulated  in  the  hands  of 
the  few.  Where  there  is  great  wealth  there  must 
be  great  poverty. 

Palaces  and  hovels,  millionaires  and  paupers, 
masters  and  slaves,  are  the  inevitable  condition 
of  the  exercise  of  vested  powers  granted  to  cor- 
porations by  which  the  volume  of  money  is  con- 
trolled. Such  wealth  builds  up  and  fosters 
aristocracy ;  creates  lords  and  serfs,  proud  and 
haughty  rulers,  and  meek  and  submissive  slaves. 

"Money,"  says  Professor  Bonamy  Price,,  an 
acknowledged  authority  in  political  economy,'^ is 
the  tool  of  exchange,  the  instrument  of  obtaining 
for  its  present  possessor  some  commodity  or  ser- 
vice which  is  desired.  It  derives  its  power  from 
the  law,  and  is  not  dependent  on  any  kind  of  ma- 
terial." 

The  following  illustration  will  show  the  power 
of  law  to  make  money  : 

"  Law  can  make  that  money  which  costs  little  to 
produce  it  immensely  more  valuable  than  that  which 
was  produced  at  a  great  outlay  of  labor.     Law  can 


FINANCE.  145 

give  a  paper  dollar  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  times 
greater  value  or  purchasing  power  than  a  gold  or 
other  kind  of  dollar,  in  despite  of  the  fact  that  the 
gold  dollar  cost  perhaps  a  hundred  times  as  much 
as  the  paper  dollar.  One  might  term  this  the  mir- 
acle of  law,  since  the  same  is  not  true  of  anything 
else  produced  by  man.  This  truth  arises  entirely 
from  the  fact  practically  to  regulate  the  quantity 
of  money  issued  or  permitted  to  circulate ;  and  from 
the  further  fact,  the  quality  of  any  one  or  several 
kinds  of  money  is  utterly  the  creature  of  law — the 
law  makes  it  a  full  or  restricted  legal  tender,  or  not 
a  legal  tender  at  all.  We  can  illustrate  this  fact 
regarding  the  principles  of  money  by  supposing  the 
United  States  were  to  issue  say  fifty  millions  of 
paper  dollars,  and  make  them  the  only  legal  tender 
to  pay  any  tax  or  debt  due  the  government,  and 
say  five  hundred  millions  of  silver  dollars,  and 
make  them  the  only  legal  money  to  pay  private 
debts  due  from  one  person  to  another,  and  say  one 
hundred  millions  of  gold  dollars  which  are  not  a 
If  .gal  tender  for  any  purpose  whatever,  leaving  the 
ijiople  free  to  acceptor  reject  them  just  as  they 
j(>>e^ased.  What  would  be  the  result  of  this  action 
C'^Our  government?  Sinijlythis:  the  law  of  sup- 
ply and  demand  would  .^it  once  assert  itself,  and 
work  in  combinatic  with  what  the  law  had  de- 
creed regarding  t^  ^  *^ioney  whereby  there  had  been 
created  three  ki^"^^  lud  three  qualities  of  money. 
Whereas,  if  the  law  I'egarding  each  had  been  the 
same,  there  would  have  been  but  one  kind  and  one 
quality,  even  if  it  were  made  of  a  hundred  different 
materials.  As  every  tax  or  debt  due  to  the  gov- 
ernment would  have  to  be  paid  in  paper  dollars, 
thereby  creating  an  enormous  demand,  which  could 
only  be  met  by  the  small  supply  of  fifty  millions  of 
7 


146  THE    ^'EW    REPUBLIC. 

paper  dollars,  they  would  have  a  very  high  premium 
over  the  gold  or  silver  dollars.  But  one  thing  is 
obvious  and  certain :  those  who  could  gtt  control 
of  the  paper  dollars  would  exact  any  price  they 
pleased  for  them.  The  supply  of  silver  dollars, 
being  adequate  for  the  demand  for  them  in  con- 
ducting the  exchanges  of  the  country,  Ave  may  sup- 
pose no  premium  could  be  exacted  for  them.  But 
the  gold  dollars,  not  being  money  at  all — for  noth- 
ing is  money  save  that  wliich  is  made  a  legal  tender 
in  payment  of  debts — would  certainly  fall  to  a  dis- 
count, the  amount  of  which  would  be  fixed  by  the 
loss  and  expense  necessary  in  case  of  expoi'ting 
them  for  recoinage  into  other  money  of  any  nation 
using  gold  for  money. 

"I  challenge  any  two  political  economists  of 
world-wide  reputation  to  publicly  deny  over  their 
own  names  but  what  such  would  be  the  result  ??6- 
cessan7_y  flowing  u]>on  such  action  on  the  part  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States  or  any  other  nation. 
None  will  dare  to  do  it,  since  such  an  act^  would 
brand  them  among  all  scientists  as  infamous  scoun- 
drels who  have  accepted  a  bribe  and  degraCj^d 
themselves  to  the  level  of  newspaper  editors  ^ei-l 
other  hirelings  who  chami'ion  lies  of  that  character 
against  the  truth  and  agai\ist  the  intei'ests  of  man- 
kind."—// H.  Bryant.  '^^ 

The  above  illustration  sh^J;,,^  how,  during  the 
Civil  War,  gold  went  up  so  high — at  one  time  to 
285.  It  was  made  by  law  the  only  money,  with 
the  exception  presently  to  be  noted,  that  was  a 
full  Ieo;al  tender  for  all  government  debts  and 
dues ;  and  by  Its  scarcity  it  was  hoarded  by  bank- 
ers, brokers,  and    speculators,  who    caused    the 


FINANCE.  147 

currency  of  the  country  to  be  shorn  of  its  power 
to  pay  government  dues. 

Bonds  were  issued  in  large  quantities  and  pur- 
posely depreciated  and  made  purchasable  dollar 
for  dollar  in  this  inferior  kind  of  money.  The 
law  also  made  this  paper  currency,  which  was 
inferior  to  gold,  convertible  into  bonds  when 
they  were  cheap,  and  the  debts  due  to  the  gov- 
ernment payable  only  in  gold  when  gold  was 
dear,  so  as  to  enable  the  government  to  pay  the 
interest  on  the  bonds  in  gold,  and  tlius  it  was 
gathered  back  into  the  hands  of  the  money  lords. 
After  the  bonds  had  advanced  in  value  and  had 
been  bought  up  with  the  paper  currency  pur- 
posely made  an  inferior  money,  they  were  then 
destroyed,  thus  converting  the  people's  money  into 
an  interest-hearing  debt  to  the  amount  of  twelve 
h^'.ndred  millions  of  dollars. 
,£put  the  first  issue  of  the  paper  currency  to  the 
amount  of  sixty  millions  was  a  full  legal  tender, 
and  performed  all  the  functions  of  gold  and  kept 
at  par  with  it  durinr.  all  its  fluctuations.  So  we 
see  that  money  is  ^j^olely  a  creature  of  the  law, 
and  its  purchasing  power,  its  ability  to  exchange 
values,  (lepends  on  the  quality  and  quantity  in 
circulation.  Its  quality  is  its  legal  power,  audits 
quantity  in  circulation  determines  its  value. 

Since  a  change  of  volume  does  not  affect  the 


148  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

aggregate  of  values,  but  the  value  of  the  money, 
it  is  easy  to  make  it  dear  and  prices  cheap  by 
simply  changing  the  relation  of  quantities.  This 
power  to  regulate  prices  and  keep  them  uniform 
determines  the  production  and  distribution  of 
wealth,  and  consequently  the  freedom,  pros- 
perity, and  happiness  of  the  people  ;  or  if  con- 
trolled by  corporate  power  vested  by  law,  then 
popular  government  is  at  an  end. 

Webster  said,  at  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill, 
"The  freest  government  cannot  long  endure 
where  the  tendency  of  the  law  is  to  create  a 
rapid  accumulation  of  property  in  the  hands  of 
the  few  and  to  render  the  masses  poor  and  de- 
pendent." The  result  of  all  this  is  thus  summed 
up  in  the  language  of  C.  W.  Stanton  : 

'■  Let  us  look  back  a  few  years.  In  1862,  the  two 
exceptions  in  the  Legal-Tender  Act  caused  the  gre<rj- 
backs  to  depreciate  to  forty  cents  on  the  dollar,  J^J 
this  act  enabled  the  Shylocks  to  reap  a  harvest  of 
$700,500,000  at  the  expense  of  the  farmers  and  in- 
dustries of  the  country.  Again,  in  1863,  the  Na- 
tional Banking  Act  was  passed,  creating  the  most 
colossal  money  oligarcliy  and  monopoly  that  ever 
damned  a  nation  since  the  fouif  nation  of  the  world. 
Li  186G  wefind  the  Contraction* Act,  whict  reduced 
our  currency  from  ^1,800,000,000  to  $700,000,000. 
This  act  prostrated  every  industry,  paralyzed  every 
enterprise,  and  bankrupted  over  a  hundred  thousand 
business  men  and  firms,  throwing  labor  out  of  em- 
ployment, filling  the  country  with  tramps  and  crim- 


riNANCE.  149 

inals,  and  destroying  over  half  the  value  of  the 
national  wealth.  Let  us  turn  over  a  leaf  to  18G9. 
We  find  the  Ci-edit-Strengthening  Act,  changing  the 
5.20  bonds  from  currency  (lawful  money)  to  coin, 
giving  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  to  the  bond- 
holders and  taking  it  from  the  farmers  and  laborers 
of  the  nation,  and  saddling  on  us  an  immortalized 
burden  of  debt  and  interest.  Another  leaf,  and  we 
find  the  Refunding  Act  of  1870,  perpetuating  the 
public  debt,  instead  of  paying  it  by  refunding  the 
5.20's  into  coin  bonds  payable  at  the  option  of 
the  United  States.  Then  comes  the  Demonetiza- 
tion Act  of  1873,  depriving  us  of  the  use  of  silver 
to  pay  the  coin  obligations  they  have  saddled  upon 
us,  establishing  the  single  gold  basis,  and  adding  40 
per  cent  to  the  value  of  all  money  obligations,  and 
40  per  cent  to  the  debt  burdens  of  the  people. 

"  One  leaf  more.  Look  at  the  work  of  1875,  and 
we  will  have  all  we  can  digest  at  one  time.  What 
do  we  find  ?  The  Redemption  Act,  authorizing  the 
redemption,  retirement,  and  actual  loss  to  the  pro- 
ducers of  wealth  of  over  1418,000,000  of  legal 
tender  and  fractional  currency,  for  no  other  pur- 
pose than  to  make  room  for  the  national  bank  cur- 
rency, thus  giving  the  bondholders  control  of  our 
circulating  medium,  with  power  to  iuflate  or  con- 
tract it  at  pleasure,  to  fix  values  on  our  produce 
and  our  homes  —  in  short,  to  hold  the  destinies  of 
this  country  in  their  Iron  grasp.  We  have  already 
paid  the  national  banking  corporations  $1,800,000,- 
000  for  the  special  privilege  of  furnishing  the  cur- 
rency for  us,  and  yet  no  one  Avill  claim  that  it 
serves  the  purpose  of  money  better  than  the  legal- 
tender  greenbacks  that  cost  the  people  nothing; 
yet  the  greenbacks  were  withdrawn  and  interest- 
bearing  bonds  substituted  —  for  what?  —  to  create 


150  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

and  sustain  a  i:»erpetual  basis  for  national  banks 
and  rob  the  people  of  thousands  of  dollars  annu- 
ally. Farmers  and  laborers,  will  you  longer  bow 
down  and  worship  this  Juggernaut,  or  voluntarily 
throw  yourselves  under  its  ponderous  wheels,  or 
Btand  idly  by  while  it  grinds  out  the  last  drop  of 
blood,  the  life  of  the  nation?  Every  thinking 
farmer  and  laborer  feels  that  there  is  something 
wrong,  and  unless  we  right  these  wrongs  our 
national  liberty  will  be  lost,  and  we  go  down 
into  history,  like  Greece  and  Rome,  our  column 
broken." 


BANKING    SYSTEM.  151 


CHAPTER    XI. 

NATURAL  RIGHTS  COJfSIDERED  (CONTINUED^ 
FINANCE. — BANKING  SYSTEM. 

"  O  power  of  Greed  clothed  in  Deception's  garb  .' 
To  drain  the  wealth  that  labor  gives, 
Assumes  the  Law's  majestic  form, 
And  on  the  toils  of  others  lives." 

The  limited  supply  of  gold  and  silver  requires 
the  currency  to  be  supplemented  by  credit.  To 
secure  the  benefits  of  credit  to  the  money-deal- 
ers, banks  of  issue  are  instituted. 

Banks  are  chartered  in  order  to  furnish  the 
people  with  a  public  representative  of  value.  If 
this  were  their  real  purpose,  such  representative 
of  value  should  be  issued  and  controlled  by  the 
General  Government,  and  in  such  volume  as  to 
dispense  with  the  necessity  of  credit.  But  credit 
is  a  source  of  wealth  to  the  money-dealers,  and 
banks  are  the  machinery  by  which  that  credit  is 
utilized.  M(;;ney  is  said  to  bear  such  and  such  a 
rate  of  interest ;  it  is  the  obligation  given  for  the 
use  of  monoy  that  bears  the  interest ;  the  debtor 
pays  intei'ee-c  on  his  debt,  that  is,  he  is  compelled 
to  pay  a  petlalty  for  being  a  debtor,  which  goes  to 
the  credit       who  receives  a  premium  for  the  priv- 


152  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

ilege  of  taking  from  the  debtor  that  which  does 
not  belong  to  him.  The  secret  of  success  of 
banking  consists  in  the  debtor  receiving  interest 
on  his  debts.  The  following,  from  the  "  American 
Sentry,"  presents  the  matter  clearly,  thus  : 

"  The  '  Sentry '  briefly  states  the  facts  herein- 
after mentioned,  in  order  to  bring  them  pointedly 
before  the  minds  of  its  readers,  and  earnestly  asks 
that  each  will  carefully  weigh  their  import  in  their 
bearing  upon  the  cause  of  equal  justice  to  all,  the 
welfare  of  our  people,  and  the  perpetuity  of  our 
republic. 

"  Bank  notes  when  issued  simply  prove  that  the 
corporation  issuing  them  owes  the  holder  thereof, 
and  is  indebted  to  the  amount  represented  by  such 
notes 

"  When  a  bank  loans  its  notes  and  collects  in- 
terest therefor,  it  charges  and  receives  interest  on 
what  it  owes. 

"  Laws  that  either  directly  or  indirectly  compel 
the  people  to  receive  and  use  as  money  the  evi- 
dences of  corporate  indebtedness,  for  the  benefit  of 
corporations,  as  in  the  case  of  national-bank-note 
issues,  are  grossly  despotic,  oppressive,  and  wicked, 
and  are  of  necessity  the  deadly  foes  of  the  people's 
rights. 

"By  authorizing  banks  to  issue  their  notes  for 
use  as  money,  and  destroying  the  people's  money — 
greenbacks  and  other  Treasury  notes — to  such  an 
extent  that  there  was  not  enough  of  them  left  to 
carry  forward  the  business  of  the  country.  Congress 
compels  the  people  to  have  recourse  to  and  use 
bank  notes  as  money,  and  by  that  cii  umlocution 
to  pay  interest  to  banks  on  what  bank;      re. 


BANKING    SYSTEM.  153 

"  In  order  to  more  effectually  force  the  masses 
to  take  and  use  as  money  the  bits  of  paper  that 
simply  represent  the  debts  of  bank  corporations, 
and  thus  become  the  slaves  of  and  pay  tribute  to 
them,  Congress,  by  a  law  printed  upon  the  back  of  all 
national  bank  notes,  compels  their  acceptance  '  for  all 
salaries  and  other  debts  and  demands  owing  by  the 
United  States  to  individuals,  corporations,  and  as- 
sociations within  the  United  States,  except  interest 
on  j)ublic  debt.'  So,  when  government  pays  inter- 
est to  banks  on  the  bonds  they  own,  it  cannot  com- 
pel them  to  receive  their  own  notes  in  payment  of 
such  interest,  although  the  banks'  notes  are  good 
enough  money  for  the  payments  by  government  of 
all  but  the  bondholders'  claims. 

"  Monstrous  and  degrading  as  the  fact  is,  the 
American  jjeople  are  tamely  submitting  to  the  com- 
pulsory use  by  them  as  money  of  bits  of  paper  that 
are  nothing  but  proofs  of  corporations'  debts,  and 
for  that  privilege,  if  it  can  be  called  such,  are  cheer- 
fully paying  to  national  banks  interest  on  what  the 
banks  owe,  as  well  as  on  the  bonds  they  own.  Do 
the  people  realize  that  to  enable  corporations  to 
filch  from  them  interest  on  their  own  debts.  Congress 
has  prostituted  its  trust,  and  by  law  has  made  cor- 
porations '  notes  a  legal  tender  for  the  payment  of 
debts  and  dues  by  the  government,  in  order  to  force 
the  use  of  such  notes  as  money? 

"No  wonder  that  these  despotic  corporations  re- 
gard a  system  that  enables  them  to  extort  interest 
on  their  debts  from  the  people  as  '  the  best  bank- 
ing system  the  world  ever  saw.'  What  despot 
could  ask  for  more  or  desire  more  willing,  abject 
slaves  than  the  American  people  are  to  national 
banks?" 

7* 


154  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

But  this  is  not  ull.  "  Causes,"  says  Kellogg, 
"  are  felt  to  be  in  operation  which  the  people  can- 
not comprehend — the  changes  in  market  value 
of  property  and  in  the  prices  of  labor  are  ac- 
counted for  by  the  abundance  or  scarcity  of 
money ;  but  why  money  is  scarce  at  one  time 
and  abundant  at  another  is  to  the  great  body  of 
the  people  utterly  unknown." 

The  business  of  the  country  is  chiefly  depend- 
ent on  comparatively  a  few  individuals,  vested 
with  power  to  issue  bank  notes.  It  is  supposed 
that  banks  are  instituted  for  public  use,  and  that 
a  large  capital  is  required  to  operate  them  ;  but 
in  the  case  of  national  banks,  the  capital  in- 
vested is  capital  already  invested  whose  stocks 
are  at  a  liigh  premium  in  the  market;  so  these 
bankers  receive  profits  on  their  credits  as  well  as 
on  their  debts. 

But  they  are  allowed  to  issue  more  than 
their  capital  invested.  A  privilege  is  granted 
by  the  government  to  a  corporation  to  issue 
bank  notes  bearing  no  interest,  and  exchange 
them  for  indorsed  notes  of  the  people  bearing 
interest ;  and  in  this  way  operate  largely  on 
a  fictitious  capital.  A  bank  with  a  capital  of 
$50,000  issues  |150,000  in  bank  notes,  for  which 
interest  is  charged.  At  7  ^jer  cent,  an  annual 
income  of  7,000  would  he  realized  upon  a  purely 
fictitious  capital. 


BANKING    SYSTEM.  155 

This  method  of  supplying  the  people  with 
money  is  claimed  to  be  both  just  and  safe  !  It  is 
not  necessary  to  discuss  the  justice  of  such  a 
method.  A  currency  that  the  government  is  in 
duty  bound  to  supply  to  the  full  requirements  of 
business  and  trade  is  scantily  supplied  by  the 
banks,  which  by  the  necessity  of  a  medium  of 
exchange  is  made  to  take  the  place  of  money, 
and  a  rate  of  interest  charged  above  the  net 
profits  of  labor.  It  is  not  necessary  to  show  by 
this  operation  who  are  enriched  and  who  are  im- 
poverished. 

Before  the  national  banking  system  was  estab- 
lished, banks  were  established  by  the  authority 
of  State  charters  throughout  all  the  States,  in 
some  of  which  the  wildest  speculations  were  cai'- 
ried  on.  In  1849  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut 
created  a  commission  to  report  upon  the  banks 
of  that  State.  An  extract  of  that  report  is  here 
presented. 

"  By  the  foregoing  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
average  amount  of  specie  held  by  the  banks  in  the 
State  of  Connecticut  for  twelve  years  was  $178,719, 
while  the  a^-erage  amount  of  their  loans  to  the 
public  during  the  same  period  was  $11,069,457, 
more  than  twenty-four  and  one-third  times  as  much 
money  as  the  banks  had  specie.  The  annual  inter- 
est on  $11,609,457  was  $700,197.  If  they  could 
have  loaned  only  their  specie,  the  interest  would 
have  amounted  to  but  $28,723.     The  banks  gained 


156  THE   NEW    REPUBLIC. 

from  the  public  annually,  $071,444  above  the  inter- 
est on  their  sjoecie,  and  in  the  twelve  years  |8,057,- 
328.  They  collected  this  interest  in  advance,  and 
made  their  dividends  half-yearly  to  their  stock- 
holders ;  therefore  it  is  proper  to  compound  this  in- 
terest half-yearly,  which  would  swell  their  gains  to 
nearly  $12,000,000,  that  is  to  say,  $1,000,000  inter- 
est annually.  These  were  actual  gains,  as  much 
realized  by  these  banks  as  if  they  had  produced  and 
sold  $700,167  worth  of  agricultural  products  in 
each  year." — Kellogg'' s  New  Monetary  System,  p. 
204. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  Inquire  what  the 
people  of  Connecticut  received  in  return  for  the 
million  dollars  they  paid  to  the  banks.  The  nat- 
ural rights  of  the  people  demand  a  volume  of 
money  to  meet  all  the  requirements  of  industry 
and  trade,  to  go  into  circulation  in  obedience  to 
the  demand  for  it  in  exchanging  values,  and  a 
tribute  levied  upon  it  is  sheer  robbery,  no  less 
such  because  clothed  in  legal  raiment.  Thus 
banks  are  institutions  establislied  by  law  for  the 
benefit  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many, 
vested  in  corporations  to  legalize  robbery  ! 

The  following,  from  the  pen  of  T.  A.  Bland, 
M.  D.,  is  very  appropriate  here  : 

"Banks  are  foes  to  justice  and  equality  always. 
They  sent  their  coin  to  Europe  or  locked  it  in  their 
vaults  just  at  the  time  the  government  most  needed 
it.  They  then  suspended  payment  on  their  notes, 
which  of  course  caused  them  to  depreciate  rapidly. 


BANKING   SYSTEM.  157 

These  deijreciated  promises  to  pay  were  offered  to 
the  government  on  a  par  basis,  at  six  per  cent  in- 
terest in  limited  amount.  Secretary  Chase  soon 
discovered  that  the  banks  were  broken  reeds.  He 
asked  Congress  to  anthorize  the  issue  of  Treasury 
notes.  It  was  done.  The  bankers  took  the  alarm. 
This  policy  if  continued  would  render  the  govern- 
ment and  the  people  independent  of  the  banks. 
The  first  issue  of  greenbacks,  860,000,000,  were  a 
full  legal  tender.  They  were  as  good  as  coin.  Then 
the  bankers  formed  an  association,  and  apj^ointed  a 
committee  of  seventy-two  leading  bankei-s,  and  sent 
them  to  Washington  to  advise  Congress  on  the 
subject  of  finances.  Under  the  influences'  of  this 
committee,  Congress  committed  what  Thaddeus 
Stevens  denounced  as  a  crime  against  the  Ameri- 
can people.  The  greenback  was  demonetized.  Of 
course  it  depreciated.  The  next  move  was  to  get 
Congress  to  pass  a  National  Banking  law,  and  to 
authorize  the  sale  of  government  bonds  to  raise 
funds'  to  carry  on  the  war.  The  bankers  bought 
the  bonds  with  their  own  depreciated  currency  and 
with  depreciated  greenbacks,  dollar  for  dollar. 
They  then  deposited  these  interest-bearing  bonds 
with  the  government,  and  got  their  face  value  in 
currency  printed  and  guaranteed  by  the  govern- 
ment. The  banking  ring  was  now  intrenched  in 
the  public  treasury,  with  substantially  absolute  con- 
trol of  the  finances  of  the  country;  hence,  with 
the  power  to  rob  the  government  and  the  people  at 
Avill.  It  still  holds  the  fort,  and  so  strong  and  rich 
has  it  grown,  that  it  controls  both  the  Republican 
and  Democratic  parties.  It  tramples  freedom  and 
justice  under  its  feet.  It  is  the  most  stupendous, 
the  most  arrogant,  and  the  most  oppressive  monop- 
oly ring    that  ever  existed  on  this  continent.      It 


158  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

must  be  broken,  and  the  power  to  issue  and  control 
the  currency  restored  to  the  people,  or  the  repub- 
lic will  perish  and  liberty  die." 


The  national  banks,  from  a  capital  of 
104,213,  are  able  to  loan  11,238,286,325.  This 
shows  clearly  the  ability  of  the  banks  to  do  busi- 
ness on  other  people's  money  and  furnish  a  cir- 
culating medium  at  the  people's  expense. 


TRANSPORTATION.  159 


CHAPTER   XII. 

NATURAL   RIGHTS  CONSIDERED  (CONTINUED). — 
TRANSPORTATION. 

"All  nature  smiles  in  joy  serene, 

In  freedom's  lioly  liglit, 
But  man's  unholy  love  of  power 

Brings  on  the  gloom  of  night. 
Insatiate  greed  inspires  his  soul, 

Insatiate  lust  his  heart; 
Unmeasured  wealth  by  his  control 

Unmeasured  powers  impart." 

Transportation  and  travel  have  become  a 
necessity  in  the  present  stage  of  civilization,  and 
the  interests  of  society  and  the  welfare  of  all  in- 
dustries and  enterprises  depend  upon  it.  The 
best  modes  and  cheaj)est  rates,  together  with  the 
ownership  and  control  of  operating  all  lines  of 
travel  and  transportation,  are  rights  inherent  in 
the  people.  So  extensive  are  these  operations, 
involving  such  a  vast  amount  of  capital,  that  in 
the  present  selfish  condition  of  society  they  can- 
not be  intrusted  to  private  enterprise  with  safety 
to  the  people.  This  we  say  in  the  light  of  facts 
and  experience.  He  must  be  a  very  obtuse  ob- 
server who  does  not  see  the  ominous  attitude  of 
railroad  corporations,  who  derive  all  their  privi- 


160  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

leges  and  means  primarily  from  the  people,  and 
seek  to  override  them  and  prey  upon  them.  To 
the  reflective  observer,  who  sees  this  hostile  atti- 
tude and  the  inevitable  conflict  that  is  impending, 
the  subject  must  be  of  Intense  interest.  Through 
the  agency  and  manipulations  of  law,  corpora- 
tions arise,  increase  in  power,  and  multiply  in 
numbers,  until  the  capital  associated  and  consol- 
idated becomes  an  irresistible  power ;  lesser  cap- 
ital, operated  by  single  individuals,  yields  to  its 
mighty  sway,  and  in  all  the  great  enterprises 
of  manufacture,  transportation,  trade,  and  com- 
merce, they  rule  with  an  iron  hand  and  impe- 
rious will.  The  most  alarming  feature  of  this 
despotic  domination  Is  the  manner  in  which  It  is 
done.  Unlike  the  bandit  chiefs  and  piratic 
crews  who  seek  Immunity  by  evading  the  law, 
they  seize  upon  the  citadel  of  the  law  itself,  or- 
ganize their  forces,  and  carry  on  their  depreda- 
tions under  the  form  and  In  the  name  of  the  law 
and  the  sanction  of  the  government.  This  is 
despotism.  In  the  palmiest  days  of  Italian  brig- 
andage, the  people  were  not  robbed  so  flagrant- 
ly ;  the  dliference  being  their  open  hostility  to 
the  law;  but  in  our  case,  under  the  mask  and 
with  the  sanction  of  the  law.  "  Of  all  the  tri- 
umphs of  invention,  none  are  more  wonderful 
than   those   by  which   the  hard-earned  gains  of 


TEANSPOKTATIOX.  161 

millions  are  forcibly  conveyed  to  the  vaults  of 
robber  princes.  No  business  Is  more  highly  or- 
ganized, more  strenuously  pursued,  more  success- 
fully managed,  than  the  business  of  robbery." 
It  Is,  under  all  Its  elaboration  of  method,  more 
than  robbery.  By  the  slow  process  of  starvation 
and  premature  death  by  overwork,  It  Is  murder. 

It  Is  by  means  of  force  evolved  by  heat,  and 
machinery  for  the  reception  and  distribution  of 
that  force,  that  such  vast  monopolies  are  carried 
on.  A  ton  of  coal  will  evolve  a  power  greater 
than  the  combined  force  of  a  hundred  men.  The 
machinery  to  operate  that  force  and  the  coal  are 
not  so  expensive  as  a  hundred  men,  and  the  dif- 
ference Is  In  favor  of  the  capitalist.  While  It 
consumes  comparatively  little,  It  pi'oduces  com- 
paratively much.  This  double  advantage  Is  in 
favor  of  corporate  capital;  and  thus  cheap  power 
and  labor-saving  machinery,  by  monopolizing  the 
expansive  power  of  heat  and  the  advantage  of 
mechanical  contrivances,  which  are  natural  forces 
and  advantages,  and  iv.jjrefore  the  equal  heritage 
of  all,  corporations,  by  tlu  c  sanction  and  through 
the  instrumentality  of  laiv,  gather  Immense 
wealth,  which  Is  really  and  ji^^tly  the  people's 
wealth   because  they  produced  It. 

In  this  way  that  which  siiould  be  a  blessing 
for  all  is  converted  into  a  curse,  controlling  the 

/ 


162  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

market  values  of  commodities  by  charging  ex- 
tortionate rates  for  freight,  of  labor  by  diminish- 
ing the  demand  for  it,  and  the  market  prices, 
and  thus  stagnating  industry  and  reducing  the 
value  of  land,  or  rather  appropriating  its  value 
by  appropriating  an  undue  share  of  its  produc- 
tions. If  land  will  produce  a  ton  of  wheat  to 
the  acre,  and  freight  is  charged  four  dollars  a  ton 
when  two  is  all  it  costs,  then  two  dollars  an  acre 
are  unjustly  appropriated  as  often  as  this  is  done. 

And  what  is  the  remedy?  Let  the  people  fur- 
nish their  own  means  for  transportation.  Let 
the  government  issue,  say  1250,000,000  of 
money,  a  full  legal  tender  for  all  debts  public 
and  private,  and  with  it  build  a  railroad  along- 
side of  the  main  trunks  of  the  corporation 
lines.  What  would  be  the  result  ?  First,  it 
would  swell  the  volume  of  currency,  and  thus 
stimulate  industry;  second,  it  would  furnish  em- 
ployment for  at  least  a  hundred  thousand  men 
and  relieve  the  pressure  of  the  labor  market; 
third,  it  would  add  |250.j]'!/0,000  to  the  national 
wealth  ;  and  fourth},  J t  would  bring  these 
haughty  tyrants  to  feheir'senses,  and  show  them 
that  there  is  a  ^/ower  before  which  they  must 
yield  unconditionally. 

By  such  means  an  enterj[>cise  compared  to 
which  this  would  be  a  meri*  by-play  was  carried 


TRANSPORTATION.  163 

on.  More  than  two  millions  of  soldiers  were 
equipped,  trained,  subsisted,  and  transported  at 
an  expense  that  would  have  built  every  mile  of 
railroad  in  the  country,  and  contemplated  to  be 
built  for  the  next  ten  years,  by  the  people's 
money. 

While  this  measure  would  afford  an  effectual 
remedy  it  would  do  injustice  to  none.  A  true 
republic  is  a  co-operative  system  in  which  each 
citizen  is  a  stockholder  and  all  are  entitled  to 
equal  benefits ;  but  as  it  is,  the  few  gather  in 
the  wealth  and  the  people  who  produce  it  are 
impoverished  by  law.  Corporate  power  granted 
to  individuals  is  so  much  of  the  people's  power 
taken  from  them :  not  for  the  people's  good,  as 
they  have  been  led  to  believe,  but  to  accumulate 
wealth  to  override  the  people  and  reduce  them 
to  a  subordinate  condition.  Let  that  corporation 
extend  to  all;  let  the  wealth  be  held  and  enjoyed 
by  those  who  produce  it.  As  poverty  is  removed 
the  people  are  lifted  up,  made  more  virtuous,  in- 
telligent, and  happy.  They  require  more  than 
food,  raiment,  and  shelter.  They  require  higher 
development,  and  time  and  means  for  it.  They 
require  all  the  elevating  and  purifying  influences 
of  ajsthetic  culture  —  in  a  word,  to  be  fully  de- 
veloped, intellectually,  morally,  aesthetically,  and 
spiritually.     In  our  great  centers  of  civilization 


164  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

all  the  extremes  of  life  exist.  It  is  not  necessaiy 
to  visit  London,  or  Paris,  or  even  Siberia,  to  wit- 
ness scenes  of  poverty  and  distress.  In  our  cities, 
manufacturing  districts,  and  mining  localities,  are 
to  be  found  selfishness,  crime  and  cruelty,  wealth 
and  wretchedness,  pride  and  poverty.  Neither 
need  we  go  to  the  isles  of  the  sea  for  exhibitions 
of  savagism,  barbaric  ignorance,  and  enslaving 
superstition.  The  soul  is  sickened  at  the  con- 
templation of  so  much  misery  and  degradation 
where  there  might  be  such  happiness  and  pros- 
perity, so  much  good  where  there  is  so  much 
evil.  The  great  purposes  of  life  are  overlooked 
and  lost  sight  of,  and  the  few  sacrifice  the  many 
upon  the  altar  of  Mammon.  This  is  accomplished 
through  the  usurpation  of  human  rights  and  the 
monopoly  of  capital.  By  the  magic  of  intelli- 
gence, powers  are  evoked  that  have  transformed 
the  face  of  the  civilized  world  —  powers  that 
speed  the  ^'I'oduction  of  wealth  far  beyond  the 
dreams  of  the  optimist.  One  more  achievement 
is  due  and  indispensable  to  the  onward  march  of 
civilization,  and  that  is  the  relegation  of  this  power 
to  the  control  of  the  people. 

The  first  was  achieved  in  the  domain  of  phys- 
ical science,  the  second  must  be  in  the  domain 
of  mental  science ;  the  one  through  the  agency  of 
physical  mechanism,  the  other  must  come  through 


TRANSPORTATION.  165 

the  machineiy  of  government.  This  Is  the  great 
problem  of  the  age  —  the  utilization  of  all  the 
natural  means  of  wealth  for  all  the  people  of  a 
country  —  this  is  popular  government,  equality, 
justice,  fraternity.  It  demands  the  full  recog- 
nition of  the  humblest  and  most  obscure  citizen ; 
it  demands  justice  to  all.  It  requires  of  each  the 
development  and  culture  of  all  to  their  highest 
capacity.  Then  justice  would  be  established, 
tranquillity  insured,  tlie  common  defense  pro- 
vided for,  the  general  welfare  j^romoted,  and 
the  blessings  of  liberty  secured  to  all,  and  de- 
scend as  the  richest  and  noblest  heritage  to  pos- 
terity. 

Let  those  who  love  justice,  their  fellow-men, 
and  their  country  be  reminded  of  their  duties ; 
let  them  aim  at  and  labor  to  accomplish  this 
greatest,  highest,  noblest  destiny  of  man.  For 
this  the  patriot  fathers  struggled  and  bled  and 
poured  out  their  most  precious  treasures.  For 
this  the  down-trodden  millions  hope  and  yearn 
and  pray.  For  this  the  noble  heroes  of  the  Old 
World  are  sacrificing  life  and  treasure. 

Tlie  theme  of  the  poet,  the  dream  of  the  hu- 
manitarian, peace,  harmony,  prosperity,  happi- 
ness— these  the  full  fruition  of  liberty,  justice, 
equality.  Justice  and  freedom  for  all — TnE 
New  Republic. 


166  THE   Nlijy    REPUBLIC. 

This  government  is  not  a  republic.  It  is  a 
government  of  landlords  and  tenants,  of  million- 
aires and  paupers,  of  masters  and  slaves.  It  is 
a  government  of  golden  splendor,  of  pomp  and 
display,  and  of  miserable  obscurity ;  of  purple 
and  fine  linen,  and  debasing  rags ;  of  crime  and 
misery  in  high  places,  and  misery  and  crime  in 
low  places;  with  prisons  filled  and  lunatic  asy- 
lums overflowing,  crime,  insanity,  and  suicide  in- 
creasing, drunkenness  and  debauchery  sapping 
the  fountain  of  moral  purity,  and  threatening  the 
overthrow  of  society  and  domestic  institutions  ; — 
these  are  the  inevitable  results  of  inordinate  wealth 
in  the  hands  of  the  few. 

And  the  people,  with  the  ballot  in  their  hands, 
suffer  such  things  to  be  ! 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  people,  or  at  least 
a  great  portion  of  them,  are  comparatively  free 
and  independent.  Grant  this.  The  vital  ques- 
tion is  not  what  we  are,  but  whither  are  we 
tending.  Twenty  years  ago  our  millionaires 
could  be  counted  not  to  exceed  a  score.  To-day 
their  enumeration  would  carry  us  into  thousands. 
Since  the  new  system  of  robbery  has  been  per- 
fected, half  a  million  of  people  have  come  into 
the  possession  and  control  of  more  wealth  than 
the  balance  of  the  entire  nation.  In  other  words, 
two  per  cent  of  the  population  hold  and  control 


TRANSPORTATION.  167 

more  wealth  than  the  remaining  ninety-eight  per 
cent,  and  tlie  ratio  of  disproportion  is  increasing. 
It  is  the  te7ide7icy  to  (ihsolute  despotism  that  gives 
character  and  importance  to  this  subject. 

This  is  the  result  of  corporate  power.  A  cor- 
poration is  a  "  body  politic,"  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  exercising  certain  powers  not  exercis- 
able by  individuals  or  voluntary  associations ;  a 
legal  entity  separate  from  personal  entity,  exer- 
cising such  powers  as  interfere  with  and  override 
natural  rights.  It  is  a  petty  kingdom,  endowed 
with  perpetuity,  created  by  law  for  its  own  ag- 
grandizement :  a  usurpation  of  power  for  the 
benefit  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many. 
They  increase  and  multiply  all  over  the  land,  ab- 
sorbing and  controlling  all  the  elements  of  politi- 
cal power,  whereby  the  well-being  of  the  people 
is  involved.  These  combine,  confederate,  and 
by  utilizing  labor-saving  machinery  in  the  pro- 
duction and  transportation  of  wealth,  raise  up  a 
corporate  empire,  ruling  with  an  iron  hand  the 
toiling,  struggling  masses  of  the  impoverished 
and  enslaved  multitude. 

And  this  is  our  "  republic  "  !     What  mockery  ! 

"Why  do  not  the  people  rise  in  their  might  and 
hurl  with  contempt  and  loathing  such  despotism 
from  its  usurped  power,  and  assert  their  rights  as 
freemen  ? 


168  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

NATURAL  RIGHTS  CONSIDERED  (CONTINUED). — 
COMMUNICATION. 

"  Science  is  a  child  as  yet, 

But  her  power  ami  scope  shall  grow, 
And  her  secrets,  in  the  future. 

Shall  diminish  toil  and  woe  ; 
Shall  increase  the  bounds  of  pleasure, 

"With  an  ever-widening  ken, 
And  the  woods  and  wildernesses 

Make  the  homes  of  happy  men." 

A  LITTLE  more  than  forty  years  ago  the  first 
line  of  telegraphic  communication  was  set  in 
operation  between  Baltimore  and  Washington. 
Since  then  such  lines  have  formed  a  network  of 
communication  throughout  the  civilized  world, 
and  connected  continents  thousands  of  miles 
apart. 

The  means  by  which  these  grand  results  are 
accomplished  have  been  wrought  out  by  the 
busy  brain  of  the  scientist,  from  the  great  store- 
house of  Nature,  evoked  from  her  hidden  and 
hitherto  mysterious  recesses. 

The  value  to  mankind  of  the  application  of  the 
electro-magnet  in  telegraphy  is  beyond  all  com- 
putation.    As  civilization  advances,  its  necessities 


COMMUNICATION.  169 

increase,  so  that  rapid  and  extended  communica- 
tion becomes  indispensable. 

This  value  belongs  to  all  alike.  The  force  by 
which  this  needful  work  is  accomplished  is  given 
by  the  Creator.  He  has  made  it  necessary  to  the 
higher  and  more  advanced  condition  in  the  moral, 
intellectual,  social,  and  political  world,  and  given 
to  his  creatures  the  capacity  to  develop  and 
appropriate  it  to  their  use. 

This  God-given  means,  this  inestimable  value, 
this  imperative  necessity  in  advancing  civilization, 
is  appropriated  by  corporate  power,  and  con- 
trolled and  used  for  corporate  benefit,  not  only 
compelling  exorbitant  rates  for  its  service  to  the 
many,  but  controlling  intelligence,  thereby  direct- 
ing national  affairs  and  monopolizing  the  interests 
of  all. 

By  it  political  movements  are  conducted,  con- 
ventions manipulated,  nominations  dictated,  and 
elections  carried.  By  it  the  markets  are  regulated 
in  the  interests  of  capitalists,  and  prices  deter- 
mined. In  short,  it  controls  the  political,  financial, 
and  industrial  interests  of  the  country. 

And  yet  these  arrogant  usurpers  have  the 
effrontery  to  set  themselves  up  as  the  benefactors 
of  the  land.  They  declare  that  these  beneficent 
enterprises  could  not  be  carried  on  without  their 
aid ;  that  nil  the  intelligence  and  enterprise  is 
8 


170  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

confined  to  their  narrow  limits  ;  tliat  the  people 
are  incapable  of  conducting  great  enterprises,  and 
should  be  grateful  for  their  arduous  and  self- 
sacrificing  efforts  to  extend  the  blessings  of — 
monopoly.  Moreover,  they  contend  that  those 
who  take  the  woi"ld  are  entitled  to  it.  They  say 
the  race  is  fair  and  open  to  all,  and  those  who 
win  are  the  heroes,  and  entitled  to  the  spoils 
of  their  victory.  It  is  by  such  sophistries  as 
these,  thrust  upon  the  people  by  a  subsidized 
press,  and  silenced  by  a  refusal  to  give  room  for 
a  discussion  of  the  subject,  that  this  illusion  is 
kept  up. 

Now  what  are  the  facts?  To  begin  with,  our 
government  is  based  upon  the  doctrine  of  vested 
powers  and  kingly  prerogatives.  The  race  is  7iot 
open  and  fair.  These  usurpers  are  endowed  by 
the  government  with  rights  and  privileges  not 
accorded  to  the  people.  The  aristocratic  party 
did  this  in  fastening  upon  the  people  a  govern- 
ment to  all  intents  and  purposes  English  in  its 
character  and  tendency,  and  managed  to  get 
themselves  elected  so  as  to  set  it  in  operation  under 
its  newly  prescribed  form,  with  the  name  of  a  re- 
public, but  the  nature  of  an  oligarchy.  With  these 
advantages  to  start  with,  they  have  sought  in 
every  way  to  improve  them.  With  a  land-tenure 
system  that  secures  millions  of  acres  to  single  in- 


COMMUNICATION.  171 

dividuals,  the  domain  of  the  country  is  rapidly 
going  into  few  liands.  The  power  of  this  mo- 
nopoly is  incalculable,  but  in  consequence  of  the 
sparseness  of  the  population,  not  yet  fully  de- 
veloped. With  a  financial  system  based  on  the 
"  precious  metals,"  and  conducted  by  banking 
corporations,  untold  millions  wei'e  accumulated 
by  the  few.  With  kingly  prerogatives  granted 
to  the  chief  executive,  a  political  patronage  was 
secured  that  gave  dominance  to  the  spirit  of 
party,  by  which  these  advantages  could  be  util- 
ized. With  a  judiciary  system  by  which  all  their 
claims  are  supported  and  protected,  and  the  very 
class  of  men  by  whose  efforts  this  system  was 
inaugurated  and  set  in  operation  were  installed 
into  office  ;  and  with  ceaseless  vigilance  preserved 
that  order  of  things  by  false  pretenses,  chicanery, 
political  machinery,  bribery,  and  fraud.  The 
results  are,  as  we  see,  the  illimitable  blessings  of 
science  and  art  monopolized  and  appropriated 
through  government  functions,  by  those  clothed 
in  government  authority,  usurped  and  exercised 
through  the  instrumentality  of  an  ambitious  and 
tyrannical  aristocracy  ! 

Public  benefactors  !  The  following  extract, 
over  the  nom  de  plume  ''Asthoreth,"  sets  forth 
in  vigorous  language  the  "  benefits  "  claimed  by 
these  immaculate  impostors  : 


172  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

"  They  have  refused  to  pass  laws  the  most  whole- 
some and  necessary  for  the  jiviblic  good. 

"  They  have  obstructed  the  administration  of 
justice  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  impossible  to 
convict  a  rich  man  of  a  crime,  and  -  equally  impos- 
sible to  enforce  the  rights  of  a  poor  man. 

"  They  have  made  judges  dependent  upon  their 
will  for  election  to  and  retention  in  office. 

"  They  have  created  a  multitude  of  new  offices, 
and  set  over  us  swarms  of  officers  to  harass  our 
2>eople  and  eat  our  substance. 

"  They  have  endeavored  to  prevent  the  popula- 
tion of  these  States  by  monopolizing  land,  labor,  and 
money  to  such  an  extent  as  to  reduce  us  to  the  po- 
sition of  starving  slaves. 

'•  They  kee])  among  us  in  time  of  peace  standing 
armies  of  police  and  military,  whose  establishment 
is  supported  by  decrees  of  bribed  and  intimidated 
legislatures. 

"They  have  set  up  a  monetary  system,  based  not 
upon  the  time  and  service  of  labor,  but  upon  ficti- 
tious values  set  by  themselves  upon  unproductive 
elements,  and  have  forced  us  by  inhuman  laws  to 
receive  this  medium  in  payment  of  our  toil. 

"  They  have  created  and  fostered  an  immense  and 
iniquitous  machinery  of  courts  and  senates,  ethron- 
ing  as  its  triumvirate  of  tyranical  rulers,  debt, 
profit,  and  interest,  and  have  used  these  agencies  to 
crush  out  the  life-bloodof  our  people, 

"  They  have  possessed  themselves  of  the  land, 
and  as  far  as  possible  they  control  all  other  elements 
of  natural  wealth,  excluding  the  laborer  from  the 
ownership  or  use  thereof. 

"  They  have  seized  upon  the  machinery  and 
working  tools  of  our  people,  and  have  thus  offered 
them  no  other  condition  of  being  in  life  save  that 
of  toiling  slavery. 


COMMUNICATION.  173 

"  They  have  fostered  among  us  degrading  and 
immoral  literature,  and  have  provided  brutal  and 
cruel  amusements  and  maintain  and  protect  every- 
where among  us  establishments  where  poisonous, 
brutalizing,  and  intoxicating  beverages  are  practi- 
cally forced  upon  our  people — all  with  a  purpose  of 
degrading  our  moral,  mental,  and  physical  natures 
to  the  level  of  the  unthinking,  degraded,  and  un- 
complaining slave. 

"  They  have  corrujited  the  sources  of  public  in- 
telligence ;  they  have  been  and  are  inculcating 
false  ideas  to  our  children  in  the  common  schools. 

"  They  have  endeavored  to  disunite  us,  and  set 
brother  against  brother  and  child  against  parent, 
by  religious,  political,  and  sectional  prejudices. 

"  They  have  imposed  upon  us  prisons,  almshouses, 
and  insane  asylums  ;  they  have  compounded  crimes, 
and  openly  flaunted  guilt  in  the  faces  of  the  people. 

"They  have  driven  our  sons  to  theft  and  oar 
daughters  to  prostitution. 

"  They  have  invaded  our  riglits  of  free  assem- 
blage and  free  speech  by  armed  force,  and  have 
dispersed  the  peaceable  meetings  of  our  people. 

"  They  have,  when  our  people  have  assembled  to 
demand  their  just  rights  given  by  Nature's  God, 
fired  upon  and  killed  them,  both  men  and  women 
and  little  children." 

The  power  by  which  these  tyrannies  and  op- 
pressions are  carried  on  ARE  legal  POWERS, 
and  are  hy  the  authority  of  the  government,  and 
will  so  continue  as  long  as  our  present  form  of 
government  continues.  As  long  as  the  cause 
continues  the  effects  will  remain. 

The   country   has    developed    and    improved 


17-1  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

somewhat  under  this  monopoly,  hut  not  the  gov- 
ernment, nor  by  its  provisions.  It  would  be 
impossible  in  the  nature  of  things  for  some  im- 
provement not  to  have  been  made.  But  under 
a  just  system  of  government  the  results  would 
have  been  infinitely  greater,  which,  in  another 
chapter,  will  be  considered. 

At  present,  telegraphic  communication  is  mo- 
nopolized by  one  man.  He  is  supreme  in  the 
exercise  of  this  power.  All  bow  before  this 
mighty  chief.  He  speaks  through  the  press : 
the  tone  of  public  sentiment  is  changed.  Stocks 
go  up  or  down  at  his  bidding,  and  trade  and 
commerce  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  his 
power. 

What  an  illimitible  blessing  this  would  be  to 
the  people  if  they  could  utilize  it!  This  man 
who  holds  and  controls  it,  and  realizing  a  net 
profit  of  six  millions  annually  from  it,  did  not 
originate  it,  did  not  build  and  does  not  support 
nor  operate  it,  but  appropriates  it  and  exercises 
the  powers  it  confers  in  perverting  their  true  use. 
Thus  a  power  that  would  infinitely  bless  the  peo- 
ple is  made  the  means  to  curse  them,  to  deceive 
and  mislead  by  manufacturing  intelligence  or 
suppressing  it. 

And  what  is  the  remedy  ?  It  is  already  an- 
ticipated.    Incorporate  it  into  the  postal  system, 


COMMUNICATION.  175 

and  conduct  it  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple. The  I'eal  cost  of  telegraphy  is  small.  Mes- 
sages could  be  sent  at  one-fifth  the  cost  now 
charged,  and  would  form  the  most  valuable  part 
of  the  postal  service. 

The  force  is  an  element  of  nature,  the  machin- 
ery is  the  -product  of  man's  skill  and  labor.  Why 
should  one  man,  whose  natural  rights  are  no  moi'e 
nor  better  than  those  of  another,  and  who  had  no 
hand  in  the  scientific  discovery,  the  mechanical 
contrivances,  nor  the  labor  of  putting  the  ma- 
chinery in  working  order,  not  only  reap  the 
entire  profits  of  telegraphy,  but  use  it  to  oj)- 
press  and  subjugate  the  people  ? 


176  THE   NEW    KEPUBLIC. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

NArURAL  RIGHTS  CONSIDERED  (CONCLUDED). — > 

EDUCATION. 

"Wisdom  is  the  princii^al  thicg,  therefore  get  wisdom; 
and  with  all  thy  getting,  get  understanding." — Proverbs. 

Like  all  other  institutions,  those  of  an  educa- 
tional character  carry  with  them  the  traits  and 
characteristics  stamped  upon  them  by  the  age  in 
which  they  originated.  Until  within  a  compar- 
atively modern  period  education  was  regarded  as 
an  accomplishment.  Labor  was  the  inevitable 
lot  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  Under 
monarchical  governments  this  was  the  necessary 
consequence.  Under  a  more  liberal  government 
education  became  more  popular  ;  but  still  it  was 
regarded  as  an  accomplishment. 

As  long  as  the  lower  classes,  under  the  super- 
vision of  overseers,  produced  the  wealth,  the 
higher  classes  had  no  disj)osition  to  apply  their 
educational  acquirements  to  such  purposes.  But 
in  a  republican  government,  where  all  are  equal 
in  their  political  status,  where  all  are  supposed 
to  provide  for  their  own  wants,  where  social  re- 
lations require  equal  social  qualifications,  where 


EDUCATION.  177 

duties  as  citizens  are  required  of  all,  education 
must  become  universal ;  and  as  its  benefits  must 
extend  to  all,  so  it  must  be  supported  by  all. 

Of  late  years  this  idea  has  become  quite  uni- 
versal, and  the  people  are  expecting  great  results 
from  our  system  of  free  schools.  But  if  we  look 
back  for  the  last  twenty  years,  in  which  our  pub- 
lic schools  have  flourished  best,  what  do  we  see  ? 
A  greater  change  from  the  simplicity  of  our 
early  republican  principles  toward  aristocratic 
rule  has  taken  place  during  that  time  than  in  all 
the  time  before.  Can  we  say  that  this  change 
has  been  in  spite  of  our  public  schools?  This 
would  not  be  true.  They  have  aided  in  this 
change.  All  who  have  been  and  are  conspicuous 
in  building  up  monopoly,  in  legislating,  in  the 
strife  for  political  power,  in  the  establishment  of 
corporate  monopoly — all  of  these  have  been  and 
are  the  most  highly  educated.  Their  acquire- 
ments have  aided  them,  qualified  them  for  this 
work. 

The  tendency  of  education  is  away  from  pro- 
ductive vocations.  As  a  rule,  the  youth  who 
graduates  from  a  grammar  or  a  high  school 
feels  himself  above  the  condition  of  a  laborer 
and  seeks  some  elegant  (?)  employment.  While 
the  uneducated  man  or  woman  feels  a  depend- 
ence on  manual  labor,  the  educated  man  or 
8* 


178  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

woman  thinks  only  of  some  professional  or  gen- 
teel vocation. 

Class  distinctions  are  encouraged,  labor  is  de- 
graded, the  professions  are  overrun,  and  poverty 
increased.  This  is  not  all.  The  evils  of  our 
present  system  are  both  positive  and  negative  : 
positive,  because  the  knowledge  acquired  is 
mostly  impracticable  and  useless,  occupying  the 
time  the  most  jjrecious  in  life,  a  period  that  can- 
not be  compensated  for,  an  outlay  of  labor  and 
expense  that  cannot  be  recalled,  for  the  knowl- 
edge, most  of  which  is  forgotten  in  after  years, 
cannot  be  used,  and  therefore  drops  out  like  dead 
matter;  negative,  because  practical  and  useful 
knowledge  is  neglected  and  lost,  and  the  mind, 
by  improper  training,  loses  its  vigor  and  power 
of  thought  and  reasoning,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
errors  and  false  notions  that  come  from  most  of 
the  existln<y  institutions  of  learnino;. 

Due  qualification  for  citizenship  is  necessary 
for  the  existence  and  maintenance  of  a  true  re- 
public. Intelligence  and  virtue  are  its  essentials 
— intelligence  to  comprehend  the  principles  upon 
which  it  is  founded,  and  virtue  to  appreciate  the 
natural  rights  upon  which  it  is  based.  Intelli- 
gence to  comprehend  the  relation  of  cause  and 
effect,  to  realize  the  condition  of  mind  arising 
from  false  teaching  and  prevailing  errors,  and 


EDUCATION.  179 

the  effect  of  exciting  causes  which  constant  ac- 
tivity unconsciously  develops,  and  traits  of  char- 
acter which  greatly  modify  individuals  and  even 
nations;  and  virtue  that  inspires  that  moral  sense 
that  will  not  tolerate  wrong,  such  love  and  ven- 
eration for  justice  as  regards  every  violation  of  it 
as  a  sacrilege. 

Of  the  former,  are  the  blind  acceptance  of 
opinions  long  cherished,  Avithout  examination  or 
reason,  or  the  strong  adherence  to  them  in  spite 
of  i-eason,  and  the  rejection  of  new  ideas  without 
examination  or  reason.  Of  the  latter,  blind  ad- 
herence to  party,  and  clanish  spirit,  pride,  intol- 
erance, and  arrogance. 

A  little  reflection  will  show  how  difficult  it  is 
for  communities  or  even  individuals  to  change 
their  opinions.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult,  for  just 
when  to  change  opinion  is  the  test  of  wisdom. 

That  we  must  change  our  opinions  sometime 
is  evident  from  the  fact  that  nothing  in  nature  is 
at  a  stand-still.  AYe  are  carried  onward  by  the 
law  of  progress,  and  must  conform  to  its  change- 
ful conditions. 

It  is  curious  and  interesting  to  study  the  ad- 
vance of  great  ideas  in  the  past.  Sensuous 
perception  for  ages  limited  the  intellectnal  pow- 
ers of  man.  If  a  great  genius,  like  Pythagores, 
penetrated  the  veil  of  sensuous  perception  and 


180  THE   NEW    KEPUBUC. 

proclaimed  the  deeper  phenomena  of  nature,  as 
in  the  motion  of  the  phmets,  it  was  silenced  by 
the  sensuous  perception  of  the  Ptolemaic  theory 
for  a  thousand  years.  The  Apparent  veiled  the 
Keal.  Even  the  clear  and  forcible  reasoning  of 
Copernicus  availed  nothing.  The  Real  disclosed 
by  the  laws  of  Galileo  banished  the  Apparent,  and 
gave  the  world  a  deeper  insight  into  the  great 
arcana  of  nature.  The  deeper  comprehension  of 
Columbus  in  penetrating  the  veil  of  the  Appar- 
ent went  for  naught ;  only  visions  of  possible 
wealth  and  dominion,  coupled  with  woman's  in- 
herent faith  and  trust  in  man,  triumpeed  over 
sensuous  perception. 

It  is  humiliating  and  surprising  when  we  look 
back  and  discover  how  long  we  have  been  beat- 
ino;  ajTainst  a  Q-rand  idea  without  seeing  it.  So 
simple  a  thing  as  the  art  of  printing  was  on  the 
point  of  being  discovered  for  a  thousand  years. 
The  invention  of  the  telescope  was  a  mere  acci- 
dent ;  and  the  phenomena  that  led  to  the  dis- 
covery of  steam  in  its  application  as  a  motive 
power  were  familiar  for  thousands  of  years. 
Professor  Morse  was  ridiculed  when  he  applied 
to  Congress  for  a  small  appropriation  to  enable 
him  to  put  in  operation  his  simple  plan  of  teleg- 
raphy. 

And  we  are  now,  undoubtedly  looking  at  ideas 


EDUCATION.  181 

as  grand  as  any  yet  utilized  without  seeing  them. 
Heat  as  a  motor,  electricity  as  a  subtile  agent  in 
disturbing  static  conditions,  chemical  action  in 
composing  and  disolving  forms  of  matter — these 
jjlienomena  have  been  familiar  to  man,  coeral 
with  his  very  existence,  yet  how  recent  it  is  that 
he  has  made  them  factors  in  working  out  the 
great  problems  of  life  ! 

Here  is  a  lesson  in  this  history  of  the  past, 
and  it  is  time  we  should  have  learned  it ;  namely, 
other  ideas  as  productive  of  human  welfare, 
though  in  other  fields  of  research,  are  waiting  the 
magic  touch  of  human  genius  to  invoke  their 
DOwers  for  human  weal,  thus  complementing  the 
domain  of  research,  and  rounding  out  and  devel- 
oping the  many-sided  phases  of  human  activities. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  physical  science 
has  far  outstripped  the  more  intricate  departments 
of  mental  science.  Mechanics  in  its  application 
to  machinery,  enginery,  military  operations,  man- 
ufactories, and  chemical  appliances  are  far  in  ad- 
vance of  political,  social,  and  ethical  sciences  ;  and 
it  is  in  these  fields  of  research  that  attention  is 
being  directed.  In  political  science,  the  advance 
has  been  slow,  labored,  and  uncertain. 

The  earlier  wi*itei's,  misled  by  sensuous  per- 
ception, looking  only  on  the  surface  of  things, 
taking  effects  for  causes,  laid  down  their  theories ; 


182  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

and  subsequent  writers  have  accepted  them  with- 
out due  examination,  and  sometimes  without  even 
question. 

Tims  we  see  liow  difficult  it  is  to  uproot  old 
ideas  and  long-established  opinions.  This  is  the 
work  of  education,  and  yet  education  has  been 
and  is  now  a  pi'ominent  factor  in  perpetuating 
the  existinii;  condition  of  things. 

The  intelligence  to  comprehend  the  condition 
of  the  present,  and  a  realization  of  the  difficulty 
in  removing  the  errors  of  past  and  present  teach- 
ings, are  essential  requisites.  This  condition  and 
these  traits  being  understood,  the  real  work  of 
educational  reform  will  then  commence.  The 
laws  of  mental  action,  in  development  and  cul- 
ture, which  have  unconsciously  estabHshed  the 
existing  conditions,  have  not  been  fully  recog- 
nized and  understood. 

The  fundamental  law  by  which  all  educational 
processes  are  carried  on  may  be  briefly  stated — 
exercise  is  the  law  of  development.  Any  cause 
that  excites  the  activity  of  a  power  or  faculty 
invigorates,  itensifies,  and  develops  that  power  or 
faculty  within  the  limits  of  its  nutrition.  The 
truth  of  this  proposition  is  more  tersely  expressed 
in  the  adage,  "Practice  makes  perfect."  This 
law  determines  all  character  and  the  Jormatlon 
of  all    character.     The    child    born    of    German 


EDUCATION.  183 

parents  and  reared  in  an  American  home,  sur- 
rounded by  American  influences,  loses  its  German 
characteristics  and  becomes  Americanized,  and 
in  one  or  two  generations  anew  cast  of  character 
takes  the  place  of  the  old  one.  In  improving 
domestic  animals  the  same  law  prevails  ;  certain 
qualities  of  the  horse  or  the  dog  most  desirable 
to  be  developed  are  carefully  and  judiciously 
exercised.  So  permanently  do  these  traits  be- 
come fixed  that  tliey  are  transmitted  by  inheri- 
tance. The  operation  of  this  law  is  seen  even  in 
the  vegetable  kingdom.  Thus  fruits,  cereals,  and 
flowers  are  cultivated  to  a  high  degree  of  per- 
fection. 

In  the  higher  and  more  complicated  structures 
this  law*  operates  with  most  effect ;  and  in  the 
human  type  it  displays  its  greatest  powers.  It  is 
by  this  law  that  national  characteristics  are  pro- 
duced and  preserved.  Even  new  characteristics 
might  be  evoked  from  the  plastic  mind  if  a  new 
influence  were  to  act  persistently  and  for  a  suffi- 
cient length  of  time.  Sailors  can  discern  and 
distinguish  vessels  that  a  landsman  cannot  see  ; 
the  accountant  runs  np  his  columns  and  sets 
down  his  results  with  astonishing  rapidity  and 
ease ;  tlie  pianist  sweeps  the  chords  of  his  instru- 
ment, evoking  a  flood  of  harmony,  while  the  voice 
pours  forth  a  melody  in  perfect    unison  with  it. 


184  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

This  is  the  great  underlvino;  law  of  all  activities 
— the  developing  power. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  make  the  application 
of  this  law  in  the  formation  of  our  national  char- 
acter. Tiie  inordinate  love  of  money  made  val- 
uable by  the  device  of  law  and  the  necessities  of 
exchange  above  all  commodities,  and  by  its  scar- 
city that  value  increased — this  love  so  excited  and 
constantly  acting  on  the  mind  has  developed  ava- 
rice as  the  national  characteristic.  Let  us  for  a 
moment  contemplate  the  value  of  money  over  and 
above  all  transferable  things,  so  made  by  law. 
The  value  of  a  fortune  can  be  expressed  on  a  bit 
of  paper  and  carried  in  the  vest  pocket.  It  will 
command  anything  in  the  market  at  any  time  or 
place  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  government 
creating  it.  It  commands  time,  opportunity,  ease, 
pleasure ;  its  possessor  may  command  power, 
dominion,  honor,  and  position.  It  is  the  magic 
wand  that  transforms  the  slave  into  the  master, 
the  pauper  into  the  millionaire ;  it  converts  hov- 
els into  palaces  and  serfs  into  lords.  It  wipes  out 
the  stain  of  dishonor  and  shields  the  criminal 
from  justice. 

Nothing  else  can  vie  with  it,  nothing  can  com- 
pare with  it,  nothing  so  good  in  the  estimation  of 
its  votaries — and  who  are  not  its  votaries  ?  This 
love,  excited  by  such  vast,  varied,  and  mighty 


EDUCATION.  185 

powers,  has  burned  with  incessant  intensity  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people  for  ages.  Is  it  any 
wonder,  then,  that  it  is  developed  into  uncon- 
trollable avarice  ?  There  is  no  passion  or  am- 
bition it  cannot  satisfy,  no  elevation  that  its 
possessor  cannot  reach  —  passion  that  degrades 
and  brutalizes,  ambition  that  transforms  the  man 
into  the  demon.  "The  love  of  money,"  said  Paul, 
"  is  the  root  of  all  evil."  Avarice  is  a  moral 
poison,  a  passion  that  overrides  and  crushes  out 
the  finer  sensibilities  and  nobler  emotions  of  the 
soul.  It  is  the  perversion  of  a  faculty  necessary 
in  the  economy  of  life  as  a  means  and  subject  to 
control,  but  a  cruel  tyrant,  a  relentless,  grasping, 
devouring  monster,  when  it  gains  the  mastery. 

Thus  the  nation  has  been  educated.  The 
phrase  "  almighty  dollar "  is  as  familiar  as  a 
household  word.  Thus  wealth  has  become  an 
object  of  worship.  Thus  every  man's  hand  is 
turned  against  his  fellow  in  its  tireless  pursuit. 

The  great  struggle  of  life  is  for  money.  The 
high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  long  for 
it,  yearn  for  it,  pray  for  it,  fight  for  it,  toil  for  it, 
sacrifice  love,  virtue,  honor,  health,  happiness, 
and  life  for  it.  It  has  made  truthful  in  the  esti- 
mation of  men  the  parody  of  the  wise  man's  say- 
ing, "Money  is  the  principal  thing,  therefore  get 
money  ;  and  with  all  thy  getting,  get  money." 
Get  it  honestly  if  you  can,  but — get  it. 


186  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

The  spirit  of  avarice  rules  the  nation.  It  is 
the  great  educator  of  the  people,  and  well  has  it 
done  its  work.  Inspired  by  it,  fraud,  theft, 
robbery,  and  murder  reign  supreme,  and  in 
the  form  of  corporate  power  prey  upon  the  peo- 
ple's wealth  and  trample  upon  their  liberties. 
Usurping  their  rights,  it  has  arrayed  its  forces 
and  organized  its  schemes  in  national  banks,  in 
stocks  and  rings,  in  transjiortation  corporations, 
in  telegraph  and  insurance  companies,  manufac- 
turing establishments,  mining  enterprises,  raayket 
and  commercial  exchanges,  and  every  business 
and  industry  in  which  capital  can  rob  and  en- 
slave labor.  It  has  poisoned  the  "  milk  of  human 
kindness  "  and  embittered  the  cup  of  joy ;  the 
purest  bosom  has  felt  its  glow,  and  the  softest 
cheek  its  feverish  breath. 

It  enters  every  department  of  life ;  all  feel  its 
withering  touch.  It  has  desolated  the  homes  of 
millions,  and  driven  their  inmates  into  the  streets, 
into  the  poor-house,  into  the  Potter's  Field.  The 
toilers  in  the  workshop,  in  the  field,  on  land  and 
sea,  and  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  are  made  to 
bow  their  heads  at  its  command.  Tramps  plod 
their  way  in  hunger  and  rags,  and  paupers  take 
their  meager  sustenance  from  the  tribute  of  their 
less  unfortunate  fellow-creatures. 

To  the  wealthy,  this  tyrant  is  scarcely  more 


EDUCATION.  187 

lenient.  Victors  and  victims  alike  fall  a  prey  to 
his  insatiate  greed  ;  the  one  class,  moral  paupers, 
stripped  of  their  manhood,  honor,  love,  virtue, 
benevolence  ;  all  humanly  qualities  gone,  greed 
hardens  their  hearts  and  steels  them  against  the 
finer  and  nobler  emotions  of  the  soul,  thus  fitting 
them  for  the  doom  pronounced  upon  them  by  the 
gentle  Nazarene :  "  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man 
to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

The  other  class  are  the  victims  of  greed,  poverty 
and  wretchedness,  suffering  and  sorrow,  toil  and 
weariness,  ignorance  and  obscurity.  Thus,  all 
the  fruits  of  avarice  are  evil,  and  the  people  of 
all  classes  suffer  from  it. 

The  true  teacher  has  not  yet  come.  We  long 
and  pray  for  his  advent.  When  he  comes,  we 
will  look  back  with  astonishment  at  the  ignorance 
and  superstition  that  prevailed,  and  the  stolid  in- 
difference of  the  people  at  the  cause  of  so  much 
misery  and  selfishness,  and  congratulate  ourselves 
that  they  have  disappeared  in  the  sunshine  of  an 
enlightened  age. 

He  will  come  in  the  garb  of  science — political 
science.  He  will  unfold  the  true  principles  of 
money.  He  will  divest  it  of  its  overmastering 
eharm.  He  will  make  it  the  servant  of  industry, 
"  the  tool  of  trade."     He  will  dethrone  it,  and 


188  THE    KEW    REPUBLIC. 

teach  its  true  use.  Pie  will  teach  and  enforce  the 
law  of  justice  ;  from  it  will  come  equality;  from 
equality,  liberty  ;  from  liberty,  fraternity  ;  from 
fraternity,  peace,  harmony,  prosperity.  The  true 
aims  of  life  will  be  recognized,  and  education  will 
develop,  culture,  and  harmonize  the  individual  to 
his  full  capacity.  Such  individuals  will  consti- 
tute the  aggregate  ;  and  as  the  units  are  so  Avill 
the  aggregate  be. 

Avarice  and  his  brazen  imp.  Monopoly,  will 
tlisappear,  and  the  forces  that  are  now  employed 
in  impoverishing  and  enslaving  the  people  will 
serve  to  establish  their  equality  and  secure  their 
liberty. 

Not  comprehending  the  cause  of  the  greed  and 
selfishness  of  man,  his  wickedness  and  crimes,  it 
was  ascribed  to  the  disobedience  of  our  first  pa- 
rents ;  but  mankind  are  just  as  good  as  they  can 
be  under  the  circumstances.  Let  the  developing 
influences  and  refining  processes  of  education  call 
out  the  higher  and  better  elements  of  our  nature  ; 
then  we  would  have  vastly  better  conditions. 

And  this  is  the  mission  of  true  education. 
Mere  instruction  forms  but  a  small  part  of  it ; 
that  will  come  with  development  and  culture. 
Looking  to  the  qualification  for  citizenship,  to  a 
comprehension  of  the  principles  of  political  sci- 
ence and  their  relation  to  human  rights,  to  the 


EDUCATION.  189 

structure  of  government,  its  ])urposes  and  objects, 
its  legislative  and  executive  powers,  qualification 
for  the  elective  franchise  and  the  proper  mode  of 
its  exercise,  the  distribution  of  its  wealth  and  en- 
joyment of  the  natural  means  of  wealth  ;  in  the 
regulation  of  all  its  industries,  public  and  private, 
in  transportation  and  travel,  in  lines  of  communi- 
cation for  intelligence,  in  trade  and  commerce,  in 
providing  for  its  revenue,  in  all  its  industries;  in 
its  sanitary  regulations,  in  the  care  and  protection 
of  its  moral  interests,  in  its  protection  against 
crime  and  the  treatment  of  its  criminals,  in  its 
social  requirements,  in  its  educational  depart- 
ment— scientific,  philosophical,  literary,  and  aes- 
thetic— and  other  things  pertaining  to  a  people's 
government,  it  will  make  adequate  provisions. 
In  other  words,  it  will  secure  the  full,  true,  many- 
sided  })hases  of  human  character,  fully  rounded 
out  and  completed 

Education  means  unfoldment,  growth,  develop- 
ment, culture,  the  power  of  appreciation,  judg- 
ment, original  thought,  and  self-reliant  action. 
It  means  the  use  of  all  the  appliances  that  con- 
tribute to  the  fullest  unfoldment  of  all  the  pow- 
ers and  faculties  of  the  human  being  ;  not  only 
to  use  and  enjoy,  but  to  control  and  direct.  To 
the  vigor  of  the  mind;  to  the  harmony  of  the 
social  relations ;    to  the    happiness    of    domestic 


190  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

life;  to  the  production  and  distribution  of  wealth  ; 
to  the  culture  of  taste  and  refinement  by  the  ex- 
alting and  ennobling  Influences  of  the  fine  arts, 
music,  painting,  sculpture  ; — this  is  the  mission, 
these  the  true  aims  and  purposes,  of  education. 

But  long-established  customs  and  settled  oj^in- 
ions,  the  wrong  and  pernicious  influences  that 
predominate  and  result  in  the  undue  develop- 
ment of  the  selfish  propensities,  the  evils  and 
defects  arising  from  false  notions  and  methods  of 
education,  render  it  extremely  diflScult  to  insti- 
tute measures  that  will  result  in  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number.  And  this  is  the 
highest  interest  of  the  people,  and  to  secure 
these  results  their  imperative  duty. 

Experience  has  shown  tliat  "  mankind  are 
more  disposed  to  suffer  while  evils  are  sufferable 
than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms 
to  which  they  are  accustomed."  This  goes  to 
show  how  diflScult  it  is  to  effect  reforms. 

When  Ave  comprehend  the  causes  that  have 
brought  into  existence  the  present  conditions, 
and  not  till  tiien,  will  we  be  ready  not  only  to  re- 
move them,  but  we  will  likewise  have  the  ability 
to  do  it.  Correct  thought  must  i^recede  correct 
action.     Opinion  rules  the  actions  of  men. 

When  the  Jersey  City  freight-handlers  struck 
for  three    cents    an  hour    additional,  they  gave 


EDUCATION.  191 

away  tlie  whole  question  involved  In  the  labor 
problem,  and  resolved  it  into  the  one  of,  What 
shall  the  wages  be  ?  They  admitted  the  right 
to  hold  them  in  the  bonds  of  wage-service,  and 
while  that  opinion  prevails  there  is  no  hope  of 
emancipation  from  the  greed  of  capital.  So  long 
as  men  are  satisfied  to  surrender  their  natural 
rights  for  a  mere  pittance  and  their  dignity  as 
men,  thus  conceding  the  right  of  capital  to  con- 
trol labor,  barter  their  liberties,  and  sacrifice 
tlieir  manhood  for  a  price,  we  may  be  sure  of  a 
continuation  of  slavery  without  mitigation  or 
relief. 

So  long  as  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  only 
demand  less  rents  as  a  measure  of  reform,  they 
ignore  the  very  question  involved  in  the  reform, 
and  may  be  sure  of  the  continuance  of  the  rela- 
tion of  landlords  and  tenants,  lords  and  serfs. 
So  long  as  the  wealth-producer  believes  that 
money  possesses  intrinsic  value  based  on  its  con- 
vertibility into  gold  and  silver,  so  long  will  he 
be  cursed  and  impoverished  by  the  unjust  dis- 
tribution of  wealth,  and  be  willing  to  suffer 
liis  hard  earnings  to  be  accumulated  by  money- 
lenders in  the  shape  of  interest.  So  long  as  me- 
chanics and  tradesmen  believe  that  banking  in- 
stitutions arc  just  and  necessary,  so  long  will  they 
continue  to  be  robbed  by  the  control  of  prices,  by 


192  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

usury,  and  the  golden  harvests  by  operathig  fic- 
titious capital.  So  long  as  the  people  believe 
that  corporations  have  the  right  to  control  pub- 
lic highways,  and  claim  in  them  the  rights 
of  absolute  ownership  and  the  right  to  con- 
solidate their  interests  to  monopolize  trans- 
portation, and  thus  control  labor  and  market 
prices,  so  long  will  these  corporations  continue 
their  brigandage  upon  the  toiling  millions.  So 
long  as  the  people  have  full  confidence  in  our 
educational  institutions,  and  regard  them  as  the 
"palladium  of  our  liberties,"  there  will  be  no 
disposition  to  change  them — for  they  contribute 
largely  to  the  perpetuation  of  existing  conditions. 

Without  a  radical  change  in  public  sentiment ; 
without  a  clear  conviction  that  our  system  of 
government  is  wrong — no  matter  what  the  opin- 
ion is  as  to  the  mode  of  administering  the  existing 
one ;  until  the  conviction  is  clear  and  positive 
that  vested  powers  have  usurped  natural  rights, 
whereby  laws  are  enacted  in  favor  of  the  few  to 
rob  the  many,  and  an  executive  power  instituted 
by  which  these  laws  are  enforced — there  is  no 
hope  for  a  remedy. 

When  courts  fail  to  administer  justice ;  when 
they  become  the  willing  tools  of  designing  men 
and  powerful  corporations,  by  which  the  strong 
are  supported  and  the  weak  without  protection ; 


EDUCATION.  193 

when  these  are  manipuhited  wholly  by  a  special 
and  exclusive  class  requiring  special  training,  and 
the  validity  of  their  authority  goes  unquestioned 
by  the  people,  who  bow  with  submission  to  that 
authority — what  hope  is  there  in  reform  in  the 
administration  of  justice,  or  the  substitution  of  a 
better  mode  ? 

It  can  never  be.  A  i-evolution  must  come ; 
and  it  will  come.  Shall  it  come  in  blood,  or  in 
peace  ?  By  the  bayonet,  or  the  ballot  ?  By  pas- 
sion, or  reason  ?  By  the  desolation  of  war,  or  the 
guidance  of  wisdom  ?  We  hope  and  toil  and  pray 
for  the  latter.  Let  us  transform  this  oligarchy  of 
wealth,  this  usurpation  of  poAver,  this  monopoly 
of  capital,  this  universal  greed  of  avarice,  by 
which  millions  upon  millions  are  made  to  bow 
their  backs  for  the  burdens  of  despotism,  and 
bend  the  knee  in  servile  submission  to  a  proud 
and  haughty  aristocracy,  into  a  New  Republic, 
wherein  justice  will  hold  rule  and  the  law  of 
righteousness  will  prevail,  equality  and  liberty 
founded  on  the  natural,  inalienable  rights  of  man 
will  bless  this  oppressed  and  greed-cursed  people. 
How  little  they  appreciate  this  transformation  ! 
Accustomed  to  wrongs  and  usurj)ations,  to  false 
theories  and  dictation,  and  having  never  tasted 
the  sweets  of  liberty,  harmony,  competence,  and 
the  inestimable  blessings  of  that  full  and  exalted 
9 


194  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC. 

development  and  culture  In  all  the  attributes  of 
their  being  to  their  full  capacity,  they  seem  to 
expect  little  more  than  they  realize. 

It  Is  difficult  to  think  aright ;  It  Is  more  diffi- 
cult to  act  aright  when  thought  is  rightly  directed 
and  the  Ideal  formed ;  but  by  the  exercise  of  will, 
by  surrounding  one's  self  with  good  influences 
and  repelling  bad  ones,  and  persisting  In  this, 
that  ideal  character  can  be  realized. 

When  this  is  done,  education  will  have  done  its 
work.  All  the  powers  and  faculties  of  the  human 
being  will  be  developed  and  cultivated  to  the 
highest  capacity,  and  the  "  pursuit  of  happiness  " 
will  be  crowned  in  full  fruition. 


I 


LABOR   AND    CAPITAL.  195 

CHAPTER  XV. 

LABOR   AND    CAPITAL. 

"See  yonder  poor,  o'erlabored  wight, 

So  abject,  mean,  and  vile. 
Who  begs  a  brother  of  the  earth 

To  give  him  leave  to  toil. 
Then  see  his  lordly  fellow-worm 

The  poor  petition  spurn, 
Unmindful  though  a  weeping  wife 

And  helpless  offspring  mourn." 

With  the  vast  amount  of  speculation  and  dis- 
cussion in  regard  to  the  relation  of  labor  and 
capital,  the  problem  seems  as  far  from  solution 
as  ever.  To  discuss  this  important  question,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  take  up  and  examine  each 
factor  involved,  and  consider  all  of  them  in  their 
logical  oi-der. 

The  ultimate  object  of  all  labor  is  the  produc- 
tion of  values ;  but  without  the  necessary  condi- 
tions and  appliances  for  its  embodiment  and 
utilization  it  is  of  no  avail.  Labor  perishes  the 
instant  it  is  performed,  and  without  embodying 
its  results  it  is  lost  forever.  One  might  labor  all 
day  in  lifting  at  a  heavy  weight,  with  no  result 
save  that  of  physical  exhaustion. 

Mere  human  exertion,  then,  without  embodi- 


196  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

merit  in  valuable  results,  is  a  waste  of  life  and  of 
its  purposes,  the  aim  of  the  laborer.  Its  impor- 
tance may  be  better  estimated  when  we  consider 
that,  with  the  exception  of  air  and  water,  there  is 
no  necessary  or  luxury  of  life  that  is  not  the  pro- 
duction of  labor  or  made  valuable  by  it.  Labor, 
then,. in  the  sense  here  considered,  is  human  ex- 
ertion in  the  production  of  values. 

There  are  three  essential  factors  in  such  pro- 
duction ;  namely,  land,  labor,  and  capital.  The 
ultimate  of  human  exertion  is  value.  Utility  is 
the  measure  of  value.  All  that  can  be  appropri- 
ated to  the  use  of  life  is  value.  All  value  is  in 
some  way  consumed,  for  its  use  depends  on  con- 
sumption. 

Consumption,  then,  is  the  basis  of  all  values, 
because  all  values  are  in  some  way  consumed. 
Life  is  one  continued  series  of  production  and 
consumption,  of  composition  and  decay,  of  crea- 
tion and  destruction ;  even  death  itself  is  the  es- 
sential and  indispensable  condition  of  life. 

To  produce  those  forms  of  matter  necessary 
for  consumption  is  the  first  object  of  all  labor. 
The  inexhaustible  resources  of  potential  wealth, 
that  is,  natural  elements  wrought  into  values,  and 
the  intelligence,  skill,  and  industry  of  man,  are  all 
utilized  that  he  may  live  ;  and  to  live  is  to  realize 
all  the  possibilities  of  life  by  developing,  cultivat- 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  197 

ing,  and  harmonizing  all  the  attributes  of  man, 
thus  Jifting  him  up  and  out  from  his  low  estate 
of  ignorance  and  selfishness,  and  fitting  him  for 
his  high  and  noble  destiny. 

Consumption  is  the  demand,  and  human  exer- 
tion, coupled  with  nature's  resources,  is  the  sup- 
ply. Here  we  have  the  basis  of  political  economy. 
As  population  increases,  the  demand  for  its  ne- 
cessities are  balanced  by  the  increasing  intelli- 
gence and  inventive  resources  in  creating  supply. 
But  there  is  an  essential  factor  in  supply  that 
will  not  respond  to  man's  intelligence  and  invent- 
ive genius  nor  his  creative  power. 

That  factor  is  land.  When  population  increases 
and  accumulates,  and  demand  keeps  pace  with  it, 
this  essential  factor  remains  fixed.  Its  control 
in  the  production  of  values  gives  to  the  owners 
thereof  control  of  life ;  and  as  every  one  has  the 
right  to  control  his  own  life,  he  has  a  right  to  the 
means  of  control. 

As  population  increases,  the  ralue  of  land  in- 
creases, for  the  plain  reason  that  increase  of  pop- 
ulation carries  with  it  increased  demand ;  and  as 
demand  rises  above  supply,  the  primary  source  of 
supply  (land),  being  fixed  in  quantity,  must  rise 
in  value.  Primarily  and  essentially,  land  has  no 
value ;  without  population  to  consume  its  prod- 
ucts there  would  be  no  value.     Were  there  but 


198  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

one  man  on  the  earth,  the  value  of  all  the  land 
on  it  would  be  measured  by  the  value  of  his  life; 
with  two,  it  would  be  doubled ;  and  so  on. 

Land  has  no  market  value  so  long  as  all  who 
Avish  to  occupy  it  have  full  access  to  it.  But  as 
population  begins  to  press,  and  the  quantity  is 
proportionally  lessened  to  the  population,  its 
market  value  begins  to  rise,  and  continues  to  as 
long  as  population  continues  to  increase.  We 
say  "  market  value,"  because,  so  long  as  govern- 
ment is  founded  on  the  individual  rights  of 
property,  land  will  be  included  in  the  category* 
of  such  rights,  with  the  sole  restriction  of  limi- 
tation. While  the  right  to  values  produced  is 
commensurate  with  the  ability  of  the  individual 
to  produce  them,  the  right  to  land  is  commensu- 
rate with  the  right  to  life  itself,  since  it  is  given 
by  the  Creator  and  is  not  a  product  of  labor. 

This  rise  in  the  value  of  land  is  measured  by 
the  value  it  yields — value  increased  by  the  in- 
creased demand  for  it — and  should  belong  to  the 
owner  of  the  land,  if  it  is  owned  only  by  those 
who  cultivate  it.  This  would  be  proper,  for  as 
no  man  has  a  right  to  land  that  he  cannot  cul- 
tivate, it  belongs  to  those  who  can. 

Absolute  property  in  land  secures  the  value  of 
it  to  the  owner  who  is  only  a  unit  in  the  increase 
of   such  value,  and   is  therefore  not  entitled  to 


1 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  199 

more  than  his  proportion  of  such  value.  In  the 
monopoly  of  land,  one  of  its  great  evils  consist 
in  the  holder  of  large  tracts  taking  the  benefits 
of  the  increase  of  value  by  increase  of  popula- 
tion— a  value  for  which  no  exchange  is  given. 

The  consideration  now  is  the  control  and 
monopoly  of  this  essential  factor,  land,  in  the 
solution  of  the  labor  problem.  Since  it  is  co- 
essential  with  the  factor,  labor,  it  must  hold  an 
intimite  and  important  relation  to  it ;  and  since 
land  is  the  primary  source  of  values  essential  to 
life,  the  other  factors  are  dependent  on  it. 

The  monopolist  can  demand  a  share  of  the 
products  of  the  soil  in  proportion  to  the  extent 
of  his  monopoly.  In  proportion  to  that  demand, 
labor's  share  is  diminished  and  labor  cheapened. 
This  effect  is  not  limited  to  agriculture,  but  ex- 
tends to  all  the  departments  of  industry.  The 
poverty  of  the  laboring  classes  in  Europe  is 
owing  mainly  to  this  cause ;  for,  as  has  been 
stated,  increasing  the  price  of  land  and  products, 
labor's  share  of  such  increase  would  rise  as  in- 
crease in  land  (released  from  monopoly)  rises,  if 
rents  were  not  exacted,  for  the  value  of  such 
rents  would  go  to  labor.  The  principal  reason 
why  labor  is  not  reduced  to  the  European  stand- 
ard is  owing  to  the  large  area  of  land  in  propor- 
tion to  the  population. 


200  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

The  pressure  is  not  yet  strongly  felt ;  our 
population  is  yet  sparse,  and  our  public  domain 
is  wide,  and  the  ability  to  appropriate  additional 
domain  not  yet  exhausted,  but  the  principle  and 
conditions  are  all  here,  only  waiting  the  inevita- 
ble results  of  those  principles  and  the  logic  of 
those  conditions  to  develop  the  curse  of  landlord- 
ism to  its  European  standard  on  American  soil. 

"In  charging  the  Dublin  jury  in  the  Land  League 
cases,  Mr.  Justice  Fitzgerald  told  them  that  the 
land  laws  of  Ireland  were  more  favorable  to  ten- 
ant than  those  of  Great  Britain,  Belgium,  or  the 
United  States.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Justice  Fitz- 
gerald was  right." — Henry  George. 

We  even  now  feel  the  oppression  of  landlord- 
ism, even  with  a  population  comparatively 
sparse ;  but  the  appropriation  of  -land  in  large 
tracts  to  single  individuals  is  rapidly  going  on, 
and  the  laborer  will  be  reduced  to  the  standard 
of   European  peasantry  as  an  inevitable  result. 

In  the  further  examination  of  this  subject,  it 
will  be  well  to  define  the  terms  usually  employed 
in  the  discussion  of  the  labor  question. 

Land  includes  soil,  water,  all  minerals  and 
metals,  timber,  air,  and  sunlight. 

Labor  is  human  exertion  in  the  production  of 
values. 

Capital  is  that  portion  of  wealth  employed  in 
the  production  of  values. 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  201 

Rent  is  the  increase  of  value  in  land  arising 
from  and  measured  by  the  increased  demand  for 
its  productions  by  increasing  population. 

Wage  is  the  compensation  for  labor  in  the 
production  of  values. 

Profit  is  compensation  for  the  consumption  of 
wealth  in  the  production  of  values. 

Wealth  is  a  general  term,  and  includes  all 
values. 

The  true  formula  of  the  labor  problem  in  agri- 
cultural industry  may  be  stated  thus  : 

(1.)  Land  +  (labor  -j-  capital)  =  values,  the 
means  of  life  under  the  ownership  and  control  of 
one  individual. 

In  manufactures  the  formula  is : 

(2.)  Raw  material  (land  products)  -j-  (labor 
-\-  capital)  =  values,  which  may  be  consumed  or 
exchanged. 

In  mining  industries  the  formula  is  : 

(3.)  Mines  (portions  of  land)  +  (labor  -|- 
capital)  :=  values,  to  be  consumed  or  exchanged. 

In  transportation,  travel,  and  communication : 

(4.)  Road-beds,  streams,  and  coasts  (portions 
of  land)  +  (labor  -\-  capital)  =  increased  values. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  labor  and  capital  are 

inseparable    companions    in    the    production    of 

values,  and  land  in  some  form  is  its  basis.     In 

all  private  enterprises  and   for  individual  gain, 

9* 


202  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

labor  and  capital  must  be  furnished  by  the  same 
person  ;  that  is,  every  man  must  operate  his  own 
capitaL  In  all  enterprises  of  a  public  character, 
they  are  to  be  carried  on  by  corporations,  in 
which  the  people  are  stockholders  and  equal  re- 
cipients of  the  dividends.  In  transportation,  travel, 
and  lines  of  communication,  postal  service,  com- 
merce, education,  and  means  for  defense,  the  peo- 
ple in  their  governmental  capacity  should  operate 
and  control  them.  In  private  enterprises,  vol- 
untary associations  of  capital  may  be  permitted, 
wherein  the  laborers  are  co-owners  with  the  cap- 
italists and  recipients  of  the  dividends  regulated 
on  a  just  basis. 

The  true  relation  of  capital  and  labor,  where 
wealth  is  ])roduced  directly  from  the  soil,  is  tlie 
occupancy  and  cultivation  of  the  land  only  by  the 
owners  of  it.  This  is  the  solution  of  the  labor 
problem  in  the  department  of  agricultural  indus- 
try. As  long  as  land  is  held  in  large  quantities, 
and  the  holding  protected  by  law,  and  this  ac- 
cepted as  legitimate,  the  problem  will  remain  un- 
solved— the  premise  being  wrong,  the  conclusion, 
however  logical,  must  be  wrong. 

In  other  departments  of  industry,  the  principle 
is  that  all  who  participate  in  the  production  of 
values  shall  be  recipients  of  its  dividends  ;  thus,  a 
common  interest  is  established  wiiich  will  harmon- 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  203 

ize  capital  and  labor,  and  annihilate  all  antago- 
nisms that  now  threaten  such  serious  results. 

The  great  difficulty  is  in  overcoming  the  ra- 
pacity and  greed  of  capitalists,  and  arousing  the 
spirit  and  enterprise  of  the  wage-laborer. 

According  to  the  national  census,  the  propor- 
tion of  people  engaged  in  agriculture  outnumbers 
all  others  engaged  in  industrial  pursuits.  Noth- 
ing remains  but  for  them  to  secure  the  benefits  of 
equal  protection,  which  they  would  gladly  extend 
to  their  fellow-laborers  in  other  departme-nts  of 
industry.  In  accordance  with  provisions  already 
existing,  the  power  is  in  their  hands.  The  bur- 
dens of  transportation,  the  robbery  of  market  ex- 
changes, the  oppressions  of  landlords,  the  tyranny 
of  courts,  and  exorbitant  taxes  bear  them  down, 
and  crush  out  the  spirit  of  independence.  Care- 
worn and  weary,  harassed  with  debt  and  uncer- 
tainty, they  have  neither  time  nor  ojjportunity 
for  the  enjoyment  of  social  and  intellectual  pleas- 
ures. The  farmer,  who  sliould  be  the  most  inde- 
pendent, with  the  exception  of  wage-servers  and 
tramps,  is  the  most  dependent;  the  primary  pro- 
ducer of  the  chief  values  for  consumption,  they 
are  spirited  out  of  his  hands,  and  he  is  often  left 
in  want.  Let  him  once  understand  his  power 
and  appreciate  the  value  of  his  rights,  they  would 
soon  be  his  to  enjoy.     His  is  the  most  important 


204  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

and  independent  vocation ;  let  him  take  the  lead ; 
but  this  importance  and  independence  exist  only  in 
song  and  story,  while  he,  following  in  the  lead  of 
some  wily,  ambitious  demagogue,  under  the  stim- 
ulus of  the  party  lash,  becomes  the  willing  dupe 
and  supporter  of  his  schemes  for  personal  ad- 
vancement. 

In  regard  to  wage-earners,  who  are  at  the 
mercy  of  their  employers  with  the  present  antag- 
onism between  capital  and  labor,  the  case  is  still 
worse.  Wage-service  is  slavery ;  not  such  as  ex- 
isted in  the  Southern  States,  where  the  interest 
of  the  master  was  in  the  welfare  of  his  slave,  and 
thus  prompted  by  selfishness  to  keep  him  in  good 
condition ;  but  such  slavery  as  cupidity  and  av- 
arice dictate :  when  one  is  disabled  or  worn  down 
with  toil,  he  is  turned  out  for  another  to  take  his 
place.  He  is  so  dependent  that  he  cannot  afford 
to  displease  his  master,  however  much  he  may 
feel  inclined  to  do  so.  His  liberty  and  manhood 
have  disappeared ;  the  semblance  of  his  liberty 
consists  in  the  right  to  starve,  and  of  his  man- 
hood in  the  disgrace  attached  to  "  strikes "  and 
riots.  He  will  concede  all  tliis,  and  still  go  on 
in  his  servitude.  This  condition  of  an  "  Ameri- 
can freeman,"  with  the  elective  franchise  in  his 
hand,  is  terrible  to  contemplate :  in  a  land  where 
all  are  "equal,"  he  in  poverty  and  rags,  his  em- 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  205 

ployer  in  "  purple  and  fine  linen  "  ;  the  one  going 
to  his  rented  hovel,  the  other  to  his  gilded  palace. 

Labor  is  the  expenditure  of  life  itself,  and  he 
who  sells  it  for  a  mere  pittance  is  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  a  slave,  and  will  continue  so  as  long 
as  he  appeals  for  higher  wages  or  better  condi- 
tions while  liis  master  holds  the  power. 

Mr.  Julian,  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  said : 

"  Nothing  is  more  remarkable  than  the  growing 
tendency  of  legislation  in  this  country  to  lend  itself 
to  the  service  of  capital  of  great  corporations,  of 
raonoi3olies  of  every  sort,  while  too  often  turning 
an  unfriendly  eye  upon  the  people,  and  especially 
upon  the  laboring  poor.  The  cause  of  this  may 
fairly  be  traced  to  the  evil  genius  of  the  times, 
Avhich  makes  the  greed  for  sudden  wealth  a  sort  of 
devouring  jjassion,  and  thus  naturally  seizes  upon 
the  machinery  of  government  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  its  purposes.  This  bad  spirit,  which  has 
been  steadily  marching  toward  its  alarming  ascen- 
dency since  the  outbreak  of  the  late  civil  wai*, 
writes  itself  down  upon  every  phase  of  societv  and 
life. 

"It  breeds  political  corruption  in  the  most  gi- 
gantic and  frightful  forms.  It  whets  the  appetite 
for  public  plunder,  and  through  the  aggregation  of 
capital  in  the  hands  of  the  cunning  and  unscruj:)!!- 
lous,  it  menaces  the  eqiial  rights  of  the  people  and 
the  well-being  of  society.  So  malign  a  spirit  must 
be  confronted.  It  is  no  more  a  question  of  party 
politics,  for  it  threatens  the  life  of  all  parties,  and 
the  perpetuity  of  the  government  itself.  It  not 
only  invokes  the  saving  offices  of  the  preacher  and 


206  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

the  moralist,  but  it  summons  to  new  dnties  nnd  in- 
creased vigilance  every  man  who  really  concerns 
himself  for  the  welfare  of  his  country. 

"  I  believe  the  evil  to  which  I  refer  finds  some 
explanation  in  the  false  teachings  of  political  econ- 
omy. According  to  many  of  the  leading  writers 
on  this  science,  its  fundamental  idea  is  the  creation 
and  increase  of  productive  wealth.  If  farming  on 
a  great  scale,  carried  on  with  skill  and  appliances 
which  concentrated  capital  alone  can  command  and 
methodize,  will  yield  greater  results  than  the  tillage 
of  the  soil  in  small  homesteads  and  by  ruder  meth- 
ods, then  the  system  of  large  farming  must  be  pre- 
ferred, though  it  deprives  multitudes  of  the  poor  of 
all  opportunity  to  acquire  homes  and  independence, 
and  entails  the  appalling  evils  of  landlordism,  and 
the  whole  brood  of  mischiefs  with  which  the  mo- 
nopoly of  the  soil  has  scourged  the  people  in  every 
age. 

"  So  if  manufacturing  on  a  grand  scale,  with  the 
perfected  machinery  and  cheap  labor  which  capital 
can  wield,  turn  out  a  larger  product  and  at  lower 
prices  than  numerous  small  industries,  then  such 
manufactories  must  be  fostered,  though  the  policy 
pauperizes  and  brutalizes  thousands  of  human  be- 
ings who  take  rank  as  '  operatives,'  and  whose  exist- 
ence is  made  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing.  I 
protest  against  such  principles  as  both  false  and 
unjust.  '  The  increase  of  wealth,'  says  Sismondi, 
'  is  not  the  end  of  political  economy,  but  its  instru- 
ment in  procuring  the  haj^piness  of  all.  It  regards 
chiefly  the  producer,  and  strives  for  the  welfare  of 
the  people  through  a  just  distribution.  It  is  not 
the  object  of  nations  to  produce  the  greatest  quan- 
tity of  work  at  the  cheapest  rate.' 

"  In  the  light  of  these  broad  and  humane  princi- 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  207 

pies  I  interpret  the  duty  of  the  government.  Its 
mission  within  the  sphere  of  its  just  powers  is  to 
protect  labor,  the  source  of  all  wealth  ;  and  to  seek 
constantly  the  well-being  of  the  millions  who  toil. 
Capital  can  take  care  of  itself.  Always  sagacious, 
sleepless,  and  aggressive,  it  holds  all  the  advantages 
in  its  battle  with  labor.  The  balance  of  power  falls 
so  naturally  in  its  hands  that  labor  has  no  oppor- 
tunity to  make  a  just  bargain.  The  labor  market, 
it  has  been  well  observed,  differs  from  any  other. 
The  seller  of  every  other  commodity  has  the  option 
to  sell  or  not ;  but  the  commodity  the  workingman 
brings  is  life.  He  must  sell  it  or  die.  Labor,  there- 
fore, should  not  be  regarded  as  merchandise  to  be 
bought  and  sold,  and  governed  by  the  law  of  supply 
and  demand,  but  as  capital,  and  its  human  needs 
should  always  be  considered.  '  The  rugged  face  of 
society,'  says  a  celebrated  writer,  'checkered  with 
the  extremes  of  affluence  and  want,  proves  that 
some  extraordinary  violence  has  been  committed 
upon  it,  and  calls  on  justice  for  redress.  The  great 
mass  of  the  poor  in  all  countries  have  become  a 
hereditary  race,  and  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  them 
to  get  out  of  the  state  of  themselves.  It  is  also  to 
be  observed  that  this  mass  increases  in  all  countries 
that  are  called  civilized.  The  proposition  that  the 
rich  are  becoming  richer  and  the  poor  becoming 
poorer  has  been  vehemently  denied,  but  I  cannot 
doubt  its  truth  for  a  moment.  I  want  no  statistics 
to  settle  it,  since  the  unnatural  domination  of  cap- 
ital over  labor,  which  instead  of  being  repressed  by 
legislation  is  systematically  aided  by  it,  clears  the 
question  of  all  doubt.  Our  vitiated  currency  lai'gely 
increases  the  cost  of  necessaries  of  life,  and  is  thus  a 
heavy  tax  upon  the  poor.  Our  system  of  national 
banking  is  an  organized  monopoly  in  the  interests 


208  THE    NEW    RErUBLIC. 

of  capitalists,  is  demanded  by  no  public  necessity, 
and  renders  no  substantial  service  in  return  for  the 
burdens  it  imposes  on  the  people 

"The  population  of  our  great  cities  and  towns, 
instead  of  re-enforcing  the  rural  districts,  is  unduly 
increasing ;  and  so  is  the  number  of  buildings  de- 
voted to  banking,  brokerage,  insurance,  and  kindred 
projects.  Not  production,  but  traffic,  is  the  order 
of  the  day.  The  enhanced  cost  of  the  instruments 
requisite  for  the  prosecution  of  industrial  jjursuits, 
and  the  higher  price  of  fuel,  food,  and  clothing, 
naturally  hinder  the  accumulation  of  capital  suffi- 
cient to  enable  the  man  of  small  means  to  establish 
himself  as  an  independent  producer.  This  necessity 
subordinates  labor  more  and  more  to  capital,  and 
concentrates  the  business  of  manufacturing  and  ex- 
changing into  large  establishments,  while  working 
the  destruction  of  smaller  ones.  Of  course,  the  ten- 
dency of  all  this  is  to  render  the  many  dependent 
on  the  few  for  the  means  of  their  livelihood,  rather 
than  upon  themselves,  and  to  divide  society  into 
two  classes:  the  cai^italists,  who  own  everything; 
and  hands,  who  own  nothing,  but  depend  entirely 
on  the  capital  class. 

"  That  the  policy  of  the  government  to  a  great 
extent  evokes  and  aggravates  these  evils  can 
scarcely  bu  questioned  ;  and  that  the  policy  results 
from  the  ugly  fact  that  the  laboring  and  producing 
classes  are  unrepresented  in  the  government,  save 
by  the  non-j^roducers  and  traffickers,  is  equally  clear. 
It  illustrates  the  evils  of  class  legislation,  and  calls 
on  the  people  to  apply  the  remedy." 

"  The  unproductives,"  says  Commissioner  Wells, 
"  being  the  chief  makers  of  the  laws  and  institution  ■, 
for  the  protection  of  labor  and  ingenuity,  the  in- 
crease of  production,  and  the  exchange  and  trans- 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  209 

fer  of  property,  they  shape  all  their  devices  so 
cunningly  and  work  them  so  cleverly,  that  they, 
the  non-producers,  continue  to  grow  rich  faster 
than  the  jDroducers.  Whoever  at  this  day  watches 
the  subject  and  course  of  legislation,  and  appreciates 
the  sjjirit  of  the  laws,  cannot  fail  to  perceive  how 
more  and  more  the  idea  of  the  transfer  of  the  sur- 
plus products  of  society,  and  the  creation  of  facilities 
for  it,  available  to  the  cunning  and  the  quick  as 
against  the  dull  and  the  slow,  has  come  to  i:)ervade 
the  whole  fabric  of  that  which  we  call  government; 
and  how  large  a  number  of  the  most  progressive 
minds  in  the  nation  have  been  led  to  accept  as  a 
fundamental  truth  in  political  doctrine  that  the 
best  way  to  take  care  of  the  many  is  to  commence 
by  taking  care  of  the  few  ;  that  all  that  which  is 
necessary  to  secure  the  well-being  of  the  workman 
is  to  j)rovide  a  satisfactory  profit  for  his  employer." 

Labor  and  capital  are  insej)arable  and  must 
harmonize.  Labor  must  own  and  control  capi- 
tal. These  are  the  essential  conditions  of  the 
problem  which  render  its  solution  simple  and 
easy.  There  can  be  no  other.  If  capital  con- 
trols labor,  the  laborer  is  the  victim  of  avarice 
and  tyranny.  Eight-hour  agitations,  trades- 
unions,  and  other  associations  for  the  protection 
of  labor  against  capital  are  ineffectual  as  a  rem- 
edy, but  useful  as  educators.  Strikes  imply  the 
right  of  capital  to  control  labor,  and  thus  surren- 
der the  whole  question. 

All  of  these  means  can  prove  but  palliatives 
at  best.     AVc  might  as  well  attempt  to  solve  the 


210  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

problem  of  eclipses  on  the  Ptolemaic  theory  of 
astronomy. 

"  The  labor  question  is  indeed  the  natural  succes- 
sor and  logical  sequence  of  the  slavery  question. 
It  is,  in  fact,  the  same  question  in  another  form, 
since  the  practical  ownership  of  labor  by  capital 
necessarily  involves  the  ownership  of  the  laborer 
himself." 

We  speak  of  labor  and  capital  in  the  same  cat- 
egory. This  is  not  true.  Labor  is  guided  by 
intelligence,  and  this  becomes  an  element  in  it. 
It  is  human  exertion,  and  human  exertion  is  the 
expenditure  of  life  itself.  It  is  inspired  by  love  ; 
it  is  prompted  by  affection.  It  is  life,  energy, 
clothed  with  moral  power,  and  in  it  are  involved 
the  welfare  and  destiny  of  the  human  race. 

The  control  of  labor  by  capital  means  the 
reign  of  avarice.  It  is  simply  brigandage,  rob- 
bery, despotism.  In  the  hands  of  greedy,  am- 
bitions, and  unscrupulous  men — and  they  are  the 
ones  who  seek  it — its  power  consists  in  control- 
ling the  means  of  life,  and  thus  controlling  life 
itself.  The  first  great  necessity  of  life  is  a  bare 
subsistence.  When  this  alone  exists,  and  is  de- 
pendent on  the  will  and  interest  of  another,  the 
relation  is  that  of  master  and  slave.  And  such 
is  the  condition  of  wage-labor ;  and  by  the  agen- 
cies now  at  work   the  wealth-producer  is  rapidly 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  211 

reaching  the  same  condition.  Tiie  subserviency 
of  legislation  to  corporate  rule,  the  immense 
power  vested  in  the  executive  by  which  party 
spirit  is  excited  and  fostered,  the  servility  of  the 
courts  and  their  authority  in  interpreting  law, 
the  exercise  of  sovereign  functions  of  the  govern- 
ment by  a  confederation  of  corporations  prompted 
by  avarice  and  lust  of  dominion,  have  already 
cast  the  die;  and  without  a  radical  reconstruction 
of  government,  the  inevitable  doom  of  labor  is 
Slavery. 

Since  the  sole  purpose  of  labor  is  the  produc- 
tion of  wealth,  and  labor-saving  machinery  by  its 
advantages  in  utilizins:  mechanical  forces  is  held 
in  the  hands  of  capitalists,  manual  labor  is  coni- 
pelled  to  compete  with  it ;  and  this  power  to 
pex'form  more  work  and  much  cheaper  is  utilized 
by  the  capitalists  to  further  oppress  labor.  Man- 
ual labor  costs  more  than  machine  labor.  To 
produce  a  manual  laborer,  twenty  years  of  time 
and  a  vast  amount  of  values  are  consumed.  His 
capacity  is  comparatively  limited,  and  his  sub- 
sistence absoi'bs  a  large  proportion  of  his  produc- 
tion. To  produce  a  machine  laborer,  little  time 
is  required,  and  the  cost  is  comparatively  small; 
while  the  productive  power  is  much  greater  than 
that  of  the  manual  laborer.  With  these  advan- 
tages, capitalists  build  up  vast  manufactories  in 


212  THE    XEAV    REPUBLIC. 

which  most  of  the  hibor  is  performed  by  machin- 
ery, and  then  invoke  the  aid  of  government  in 
chartering  corporations,  clothing  them  with  legal 
powers  not  permitted  to  individuals  or  simple 
partnerships,  and  protecting  the  manufacturing 
industries  of  the  cov7itri/. 

The  Southern  slave-owner  never  became  a  mil- 
lionaire, because  the  cost  of  labor  in  the  slave 
was  so  great.  While  a  thousand  dollars  in 
slave  capital  would  bring  but  a  meager  net  profit, 
the  same  amount  in  labor-saving  machinery 
would  be  as  much  greater  as  its  power  to  pro- 
duce is  greater  and  the  cost  of  running  it  is  less ; 
thus,  the  Eastern  capitalist  becomes  a  millionaire. 
Besides,  the  superannuated  and  disabled  slave  was 
supported  by  his  owner ;  but  the  white  slave  is 
obliged  to  shift  for  himself,  and  look  out  for  em- 
ployment, under  the  serious  disadvantages  of  com- 
j)etition  with  the  wage-seeker,  and  the  despotism 
of  the  employer  or  his  agent.  In  this  way,  the 
wasre-slave  is  reduced  to  a  worse  condition  than 
the  negro  slave.  Practically,  the  question  of  per- 
sonal liberty  has  but  little  consideration ;  'not 
only  from  the  fact  that  the  negro  is  disposed  to 
contentment  with  the  supply  of  physical  wants, 
but  from  the  further  fact  that  necessity  and  pov- 
erty leave  but  little  liberty  to  enjoy  for  the 
wage-slave,  however  keenly  he  may  feel  the 
practical  deprivation. 


J 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.  213 

Thus,  by  the  application  of  the  power  of 
steam  and  electricity  to  labor-savino-  machinery, 
the  capitalist  is  enabled  to  produce  wealth  by 
converting  it  into  labor.  The  laborer  is  thereby 
robbed,  because  these  powers  and  appliances  are 
appropriated  and  monopolized  by  the  few  who 
can  command  capital.  These  powers  and  appli- 
ances are  the  gifts  of  God  and  the  ingenuity  of 
men  in  the  laborino;  ranks.  Leijislatures  have 
legalized  and  courts  have  confirmed  these  appro- 
priations, and  thus  the  law  is  made  the  instru- 
ment of  oppression  and  robbery. 

The  rights  of  the  people  are  as  dear  and 
sacred  as  life  itself,  and  the  government  whose 
sole  functions  are  the  regulation  and  protection 
of  those  rights  is  employed  to  rob  the  people  of 
them  by  their  usurpation  and  exercise  by  unscru- 
pulous men  whose  ambition  is  to  vie  with  the 
splendor  and  station  of  their  competitors  across 
the  sea.  And  the  [)eople  are  made  by  their  la- 
bor and  servitude  to  support  them. 

Law  cannot  make  a  wrong  right  nor  a  right 
wrOng  ;  yet  here  is  a  system  which  robs  the  pro- 
ducers of  wealth  more  effectually  and  systemat- 
ically, and  with  as  little  remorse,  as  the  bandit 
outlaws  of  society  commit  theirs  ;  a  system  that 
condemns  millions  of  human  beings  to  a  strug- 
gling,  lingering  existence,  amid  the  lavishment  of 


214  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

wealth  and  display  of  magnificence  equaled  only 
by  the  richest  aristocracies  of  Europe,  and  in  a 
country  abounding  in  the  most  profuse  natural  re- 
sources that  nature  has  ever  lavished  upon  any 
country. 

What  is  the  remedy  ?  Correct  thought  must 
precede  correct  action.  No  one  can  do  right 
without  he  thinks  right.  Here  comes  the  ques- 
tion of  education.  The  cause  of  the  present  self- 
ish condition  has  been  discussed.  Avarice  has 
been  the  great  teacher,  and  well  has  he  done  his 
work.  The  love  of  money  is  the  ruling  passion. 
Greed,  cruel  and  relentless,  is  the  presiding  gen- 
ius, and  all  the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  man  has 
been  employed  to  incorporate  it  into  a  govei-n- 
ment  to  concentrate  and  perpetuate  its  power. 

The  inherent  tendency  of  the  human  mind  is 
to  reverence  authority,  the  more  especially  when 
expressed  in  the  form  of  law  and  under  the 
sanction  of  courts.  Antiquity  fortifies  it,  and 
imposing  ceremonies  give  it  an  irresistible  charm. 
The  power  of  custom  and  habit  to  which  the 
mind  becomes  familiar  offers  serious  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  reform — obstacles  that  can  only  be 
removed  by  reason  and  a  keen  sense  of  right. 

The  first  thing  is  to  consider  the  principles 
upon  which  a  system  is  founded,  and  upon  them 
lay  out  the  proper  procedure.     We  must  decide 


LABOR   AND    CAPITAL.  215 

what  we  want — what  is  needed  to  carry  out  the 
work.  In  the  problem  before  us  we  have  land, 
labor,  and  capital :  land,  the  universal  source  of 
sup[)ly  ;  labor,  the  appliance  of  means  to  develop 
and  produce ;  and  capital,  the  means  for  the  pro- 
duction. Land,  being  a  fixed  quantity  and  base 
of  supply,  must  be  limited  to  the  requirements  of 
and  controlled  by  labor.  Capital,  which  is  but 
stored-up  labor,  is  the  inseparable  agent  of  labor. 
But  as  an  indispensable  and  essential  condition, 
the  laborer  must  be  intelligent  and  just.  "  The 
first  question,"  says  Henry  George,  "  that  natur- 
ally arises  is  that  of  right.  Among  whatever 
kind  of  people  such  a  matter  as  this  is  discussed, 
the  question  of  right  is  sure  to  be  raised.  This 
to  me  seems  a  very  significant  thing,  for  I  believe 
it  to  spring  from  nothing  less  than  a  universal 
perception  of  the  human  mind — -a  perception  of- 
ten dim  and  vague,  yet  still  a  universal  percep- 
tion— that  justice  is  the  supreme  law  of  the 
universe,  so  that  as  a  short  road  to  what  is  best, 
we  instinctively  ask  what  is  right." 

Now,  what  is  the  right  in  this  case  ?  That 
which  one  produces  with  his  own  means  belongs 
to  him.  No  one  can  deny  this  proposition.  If 
capital  is  furnished  by  another,  a  portion  of  the 
products  belongs  to  him.  The  two  are  then 
partners.     Since  capital  is  stored-up  labor,  they 


216  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

are  really  one  factor  in  the  production  of  wealth. 
But  labor  is  intelligent ;  it  is  life  itself  and  must 
control.  Either  the  laborer  must  own  the  capi- 
tal, or  unite  his  interests  with  the  owner  of  it. 
Then  the  interests  of  capital  and  labor  are  unit- 
ed, and  protection  to  labor  comes  under  the  law 
of  self-preservation.  Labor-saving  machinery 
would  be  utilized  for  the  benefit  of  all,  and 
wealth  would  increase,  and  poverty,  with  its  con- 
sequent crime,  degradation,  and  misery,  would 
disappear,  and  the  blessings  of  a  true  republic 
bring  to  realization  all  that  the  patriot  fathers 
aimed  to  accomplish. 


TARIFF.  217 

CHAPTER  XYI. 

TARIFF. 

"The  freest  government  cannot  long  endure  when  the 
tendency  of  the  law  is  to  create  a  rapid  accumulation  of 
property  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  to  render  the  masses 
poor  and  dependent."— DawjeZ  Webster. 

"  If  I  could,  1  would  have  free  trade  with  all  the  world, 
without  toll  or  custom-house." — Emerson. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  question  of 
the  relations  of  labor  and  capital  is  that  of  tariff. 
The  question  arises  from  a  conflict  of  local  inter- 
ests, as  a  method  of  raising  a  national  revenue 
and  protecting  certain  industries.  In  manufac- 
turing districts,  high  rates  of  tariff  are  con- 
tended for,  and  in  agricultural  districts  the 
theory  of  low  rate  and  even  free  trade  seems  to 
prevail. 

A  tariff  is  a  tax  or  duty  laid  on  certain  articles 
or  commodities  imported  from  foreign  countries, 
as  a  mode  of  revenue  and  for  the  protection  of 
domestic  manufactures. 

As  a  source  of  revenue,  it  is  quite  generally 

admitted.     This    arises  from  the  concessions  of 

political  parties  in  recognizing  a  tariff ;  but  this 

method  for  revenue  is  open  to  serious  objections, 

10 


218  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

even  if  a  better  system  were  not  at  hand.  As  a 
means  of  protection,  it  is  a  complete  success  to 
the  extent  to  which  it  is  carried.  But  whom 
does  it  protect?  Labor,  and  thus  lift  it  from 
servile  dependence  ?  The  fact,  as  shown  in  the 
United  States  Census  Reports,  that  wage-labor 
is  less  than  a  dollar  a  day,  and  has  steadily  de- 
creased about  eight  per  cent  since  1870,  will 
show  that  labor  is  not  the  object  of  its  fostering 
care.  But  somebody  is  protected.  The  rapid  in- 
crease of  capital  in  manufacturing  and  mining 
localities  answers  the  question.  But  the  tariff 
system  is  open  to  other  serious  objections,  which 
will  be  considered  in  this  chapter. 

Not  only  will  the  reader's  judgment  be  ap- 
pealed to,  but  facts  from  authentic  sources  will 
be  presented  to  explain  why  politicians  and  sub- 
sidized journals  are  so  sensitive  on  this  subject. 
Let  us  illustrate  : 

"  A  St.  Louis  merchant  went  to  New  York  to 
purchase  goods.  He  first  called  on  an  English 
merchant  who  sold  goods  from  his  own  manufac- 
tory in  England.  The  St.  Louis  merchant  asked 
the  price  of  some  woolen  goods,  and  was  told  two 
dollars  a  yard.  Said  he,  'Howls  this?  Before 
the  war  I  got  this  kind  of  goods  for  one  dollar  a 
yard.'  '  Yes,' rej)lied  the  English  merchant,  '  such 
was  the  price  then,  but  your  government  has  put 
one  dollar  a  yard  duty  on  this  goods,  and  now  we 
sell   for   two  dollars,  and  pay  one  dollar  to    your 


TARIFF.  219 

government,  and  put  the  other  dollar  in  our  own 
pocket.'  The  St.  Louis  merchant  crossed  the  street 
to  an  American  merchant,  who  manufactures  his 
own  goods  in  the  United  States,  and  asked  the 
l^rice  of  the  same  quality  of  goods,  and  was  told 
two  dollars  a  yard.  He  replied,  'How  is  this? 
The  English  merchant  sells  the  same  article  at  the 
same  price,  and  he  j^ays  a  duty  on  his  goods.' 
'That's  so,'  said  the  American  merchant;  'the  Eng- 
lish merchant  sets  the  price,  and  we  sell  at  his 
price,  and  that's  where  we  have  the  advantage  of 
him.     We  put  the  two  dollars  in  our  own  pocket.'  " 

If  the  duty  be  laid  on  imported  goods  of  the 
same  kind  that  are  manufactui'ed  in  this  country 
and  sold,  the  duty  goes  to  the  government ;  but 
if  manufactured  in  this  country  and  sold,  the 
duty  is  added  to  the  cost  of  manufacture,  and 
goes  into  the  pocket  of  the  manufacturer. 

To  show  the  inconsistency  and  injustice  to  our 
industries,  let  us  take  two  of  the  staple  products 
of  our  own  country,  namely,  sugar  and  tobacco. 
A  duty  of  from  two  to  five  cents  a  pound  is  laid 
on  sugar,  and  an  internal-revenue  tax  is  laid  on 
tobacco. 

Through  the  manipulation  of  the  markets,  cap- 
italists control  the  price  of  sugar,  and  wholesale 
dealers  and  refiners  receive  a  profit  equal  to  the 
duty  imposed  on  all  the  products  of  this  country, 
at  the  expense  of  the  consumers.  On  the  other 
liand,  a  tax  is  laid  on  the  tobacco  that  is  produced 


220  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

in  tills  country;  that  goes  direct  to  the  govern- 
ment. So  we  see  that  in  one  instance  the  benefit 
goes  to  the  favored  capitalist,  in  the  other  it  is 
paid  hy  the  producer.  This  discrimination  is  in 
favor  of  a  certain  class  and  against  another. 
Even  if  the  sugar-producer  got  the  benefit,  the 
injustice  would  have  been  no  less  ;  but  the  gov- 
ernment is  never  guilty  of  favoring  production. 
Both  commodities  are  produced  and  Imported, 
and  bear  the  same  relation  to  industry  and  trade. 

It  is  urged  that  tariff  Increases  the  price  of 
labor  and  of  agricultural  products,  thus  increas- 
ing the  prosperity  of  the  country. 

It  may  be  of  Interest  to  the  reader  to  look  back 
and  ascertain  if  protection  in  the  past  has  done 
anything  in  the  way  of  redeeming  the  promises 
that  have  been  made  in  its  behalf. 

"  Unfortunately  for  purposes  of  comparison,  this 
country  has  never  enjoyed  absolute  free  trade  since 
the  machinery  of  the  Constitution  was  got  into 
working  order.  We  will  have  to  content  ourselves 
with  comparisons  between  periods  of  high  duties 
and  periods  of  low  duties.  If  protection  possesses 
the  virtue  claimed  for  it  by  its  advocates,  every  ad- 
vance in  the  rate  of  duty  will  be  found  to  have  been 
succeeded  by,  first,  an  increase  in  population  through 
immigration ;  second,  a  falling  off  of  exports,  of  farm 
products;  and  third,  in  an  increase  in  the  price  of 
the  same  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  under  periods  of 
low  duties  the  opposite  of  the  foregoing  results  will 
be  found  to  have  succeeded. 


TARIFF.  221 

"  The  first  tariff  act  in  which  the  principle  of  pro- 
tection cut  any  figure  was  passed  in  1816.  There 
was  an  increase  in  the  number  of  articles  taxed, 
and  also  an  increase  of  duties  made  in  1824  and  in 
1828. 

"  Let  us  now  see  what  effect  this  had  on  immi- 
gration, prices,  and  exports  of  farm  products  : 

In  1820  the  number  of  immigrants  was 8,385 

"  1824  "  "        "  "  "   7,912 

"  1828  "  "       "  "  "  7,382 

"  1833  "  "        "  "  "  58,G40 

"Thirteen  years  of  unbroken  protection  gives  an 
increase  of  over  80,000,  of  which  58,640  were  in 
1833.  In  this  year  the  compromise  tariff  went  into 
effect.  This  act  provided  for  a  gradual  reduction 
in  the  rate  of  duty  until  it  reached  twenty  per  cent. 
This  period  has  been  erroneously  denominated  a 
non-protective  period,  and  is  embraced  in  the  years 
1833-41. 

"As  stated  above,  the  number  of  immigrants 
which  arrived  on  our  shores  in  1833  was  58,640. 
After  nine  years  of  lower  and  regularly  diminishing 
duties,  the  number  of  immigrants  in  1842  was 
104,563.  The  liigh  tariff  in  1842  was  followed  in 
1843  with  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  immigrants 
of  about  40,000.  Three-fourths  of  the  year  1843 
brought  but  52,496,  which  would  be  about  70,000 
for  the  year. 

"The  Democratic  Congress  in  1846  gave  protec- 
tion a  'black  eye,'  and  immigrants  to  the  number  of 
234,968  responded  to  the  change  in  policy.  After 
four  years  of  '  British  free  trade,'  in  1850,  310,004, 
increased  to  427,833  in  1854,  immigrants  cast  their 
lot  among  us. 

"Never  but  once  prior  to  1880  did  the  number 


222  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

of  immigrants  equal  the  number  that  came  to  us  in 

1854,  namely,  459,803  in  1873 

"There  was  no  change  in  the  tariff  from  1854  to 
1856;  yet  there  was  a  falling  off  of  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  number  of  immigrants  in  the  latter  year. 
Again  :  there  was  no  change  in  the  rate  of  duty  in 
the  years  1879  and  1880  ;  yet  the  difference  in  the 
number  of  immigrants  arriving  in  the  two  years  is 
very  great,  being  157,862  in  1879,  and  457,257  in 
1880." 

If  protection  had  increased  the  prosperity  of 
our  country  and  raised  the  price  of  farm  prod- 
ucts, and  thus  stimulated  agriculture,  foreign  im- 
migration would  have  responded  to  the  changCj 
but  the  foregoing  exhibit  shows  that  such  is  not 
the  case.     Our  author  goes  on  : 

"  The  great  consideration  with  the  farmer  is  the 
question  of  price.  Fortunately,  we  have  a  complete 
record  running  back  to  a  time  that  antedates  the 
memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant.  Wheat  is  the 
staff  of  life,  and  I  will  take  it  as  a  criterion.  Prices 
given  are  taken  from  the  records  of  trade : 

Wheat  in  1825  was  worth  per  bushel $0. 92 

"   "  182G  "   "    "   "  94 

"   "  1827  "   "    "    "  99 

"   "  1828  "   "    "   "  .............   1.22 

"   "  1829  "   "    "   "  1.24 

"   "  1830  "   "    "   "  1.07 

"   "  1831  "   "    "   "  1.18* 

"   "  1832  "   "    "   "  1.26*" 

Average  for  eight  years l.lOg 

"  Under  the  compromise  tariff — 


TARIFF. 


223 


Wheat  in  1833  was  worth $1.19i 

"       "  1834     "       "     1.06 

"       "  1835     "       "     1.21^ 

"       "  1836     "       "     1.78 

"       "  1837     "       "     1-77 

"       "1838     "       "     1.92 

"       "  1839     "       "     1.24A 

"       "1840     "       "     1-04I 

"       "  1841     "       "     1.18| 

"       "  1842     "       "     1.14 

Average  for  ten  years 1.35 

Increase  of  80.24^  per  bushel. 

"From  1825  to  1832  was  high  tariff.  The  aver- 
age of  wheat  per  bushel  was  81.10^.  From  1833  to 
1842  was  low  tariff.  The  average  of  wheat  per 
bushel  was  $1.35.  Increase  in  price  during  period 
of  low  tariff,  $0.24J.  Second  period  of  protection, 
1842-46. 

Wheat  in  1843  was  worth |0.98| 

"       "1844     "       "     97^ 

"       "1845     "       "      1.04 

"       "  1846     "       "      l.OSh 

Average  during  high  tariff,  per  bushel 1.02 

A  reduction  during  this  period,  per  bushel,  $0.33. 
"Non-protection,  first  period,  1847-50. 

Wheat  in  1847  was  worth $1.36i 

"   "  1848  "   "  1.16* 

"   "  1849  "   "  1.24" 

"   "  1850  "   "  1.27* 

Average  of  four  years  of  low  duties 1.26 

An  increase  over  protection,  per  bushel,  $0.24. 
"Second  period  of  low  duties,  from  185*1-54  : 

Wheat  in  1851  was  worth $1.07^ 

"       "  1852     "       "     1.10 

"      "  1853     "       "     1.39 

"       "  1854     "       "     2.14 

Average  for  four  years  of  low  duties,  per  bushel. .  .   1.44 

Another  increase  of  18  cents  per  bushel. 


224  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 


"Third  period  of  low  duties,  from  1855-60. 
Wheat  in  1855  was  worth $2.43^ 


185G 
1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 


1.75 

1.32I 


1.50 


Average  for  six  years  low  duties,  per  bushel 1. 69 

"  Still  another  increase  of  25  cents,  and  67  cents 
more  per  bushel  than  the  average  under  the  high 
tariff  of  1842. 

"  After  fourteen  years  of  what  Mr.  Carey  styled 
'  British  free  trade,'  wheat  was  worth  in  1860  |1.50, 
and  averaged  for  the  whole  period  $1,69  per  bushel. 

"  The  table  from  which  I  have  expounded  the 
foregoing  does  not  give  prices  since  1860;  but  I 
have  one  giving  the  price  of  flour  down  to  1867, 
and  doubtless  I  could  get  data  from  the"  reports  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  down  to  1881,  but  I 
do  not  deem  it  necessary. 

In  1854  flour  was  worth  per  barrel $8.44 

"  1861      "      "       "         "         "     5.29 

Average  for  the  years  1854  to  1861 6.47 

In  1862  flour  was  worth  per  barrel 4. 70 

"  1863      "      "       "         "         "     3.93 

"  1867      "      "       "         "         ''     6.66 

Average  for  seven  years,  per  barrel 4.94 

"A  reduction  under  the  tariff  yet  in  force  of  $1.53 
per  barrel ;  and  yet  protectionists  have  the  effront- 
ery to  tell  us  that  their  swindling  device  is  a  good 
thing  for  farmers.  Choice  flour  is  now  worth  less 
than  in  1860. 

"  Here  is  another  table  which  is  a  recapitulation 
of  some  lengthy  ones,  and  which,  for  want  of  space, 


I 


TARIFF. 


225 


I  will  not  enumerate.     The  following  are  the  aver- 
ages for  the  periods : 


Period. 

1825-32. 

1833-42. 

1843-46. 

1847-50. 

1850-54. 

1855-60. 


Wheat.     Cotton.    Corn.    Kye.      Oats.    Butter.  Cheese. 


.  1.35| 

.  1.02 

.  1.26 

.  1.44 

.  1.69 


.101 

.12 

.06| 

.09 

.09 

AOl 


.62 

.57 

.77^ 

•68i 

.7U 

.8lt 


.67 

.84J 

.68 

.72 

.9U 

.94" 


.37 
.43 
.34 
.43 

.47 
.48* 


.15^ 
.161 
•  111 
.15i 

■m 

.19i 


.07i 
.05| 
.06j 
.07i 
.081 


"  Special  attention  is  called  to  this  last  table. 
To  assist  in  the  matter,  the  jieriods  of  high  and 
low  tariff  are  here  given  : 

High  tariff  from  1825  to  1832,  wheat  rer  bushel. .  .$1.10i 
Low       "       "      1833  to  1842,     "       "         "...   1.351 
High      "       "      1843  to  1846,      "      "         "       ...   1.02^ 
Low       "       "      1847  to  1850,     "      "        "...   1.26 
Stilllower    "-  1850  to  1854,     "       "         "      ...L44 
British  free  trade  1855  to  1860,      "      "        "      ...  1.69 

"  I  think  I  have  shown  how  utterly  opposed  to 
fact  is  the  statement  that  protection  affords  a  bet- 
ter price  for  farm  products ;  and  I  will  now  exam- 
ine the  other  proposition,  that  protection  builds  up 
a  home  market. 

"If  I  were  to  give  the  exports  of  farm  products 
for  each  year,  not  one  reader  in  fifty  would  look 
them  all  over;  so  I  will  confine  myself  to  compar- 
ing a  few  years  under  the  different  periods  of  high 
and  low  duties.  And  let  me  here  remark,  that  I 
sometimes  fall  into  the  error  of  speaking  of  cer- 
tain periods  as  non-protective.  We  have  never 
had  non-protective  periods,  for  the  reason  that 
Congress  has  never  yet  favored  a  bill  that  did 
not  afford  protection  to  many  industries.  Duties 
under  the  '  British  free  trade '  tariff  average 
nineteen    per   cent.     The   principle   of    all   tariffa 

10* 


226  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

where  revenue  is   not   alone  the  object  is  protec- 
tion.    They  differ  only  in  degree. 

In  1850  farm  products  exported  were $123,875,880 

"  I860     "  "  "  "    260,139,925 

"  1870     "  "  "  "    391,269,695 

"  1880    "  "  "  "      685,867,737 

"  The  same  in  a  different  form  : 

Exports  of  farm  products  in  1850,  per  capita $5 

"         "     "  "       "  1860,  "         "    8 

"         "     "  "       "  1870,  "        "     10 

"        "     "  "       "  1880,  "         "     13 

"  The  facts  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  tables  are 
worth  more  than  all  the  theories  and  sophistries 
contained  in  all  the  books  that  were  ever  printed 
with  a  view  to  cajole  farmers  into  supporting  the 
most  stupendous  and  infamous  svviiKlle  that  was 
ever  invented.  There  are  thousands  of  farmers 
that  firmly  believe  that  protection  builds  up  a  home 
market  at  better  prices,  and  they  do  not  take  the 
pains  to  inquire  into  the  basis  of  their  belief.  In- 
vestigation is  all  that  is  necessary  to  convince  any 
man  that  protectionist  writers  are  either  dishonest 
or  ignorant. 

"  The  facts  contained  in  this  article  are  matters 
of  history,  accessible  to  protectionists  as  well  as 
free  traders ;  but  I  have  yet  to  see  a  single  state- 
ment touching  prices  and  exports  of  farm  products 
emanating  from  protectionist  writers.  They  take 
for  granted  that  high  wages  result  from  protection ; 
in  other  words,  they  think  that  because  manufac- 
turers are  enabled  to  make  large  profits,  they  will 
divide  with  the  laborer.  Strikes  and  tramps  were 
unknown  under  'British  free  trade.'" — William 
Manning. 


TARIFF.  227 

Thus  we  see  that  a  tariff  does  not  favor  immi- 
gration, advance  the  price  of  farm  products,  nor 
create  a  demand  for  home  consumption.  There 
are  several  reasons  that  induce  immigration, 
among  which  are  cheaper  homes  and  better  facil- 
ities for  living. 

We  are  told  that  a  high  tariff  advances  wages, 
but  the  facts  show  the  contrary.  It  enables 
manufacturers  to  increase  the  price  of  their  arti- 
cles, but  that  they  share  the  profits  with  their 
operatives  is  in  no  sense  true.  Holding  absolute 
control  over  labor,  they  give  no  more  than  its  ab- 
solute needs  for  existence,  as  the  history  of  labor 
struggles  most  amply  show. 

The  following,  from  the  "  Saturday  Express," 
well  illustrates  this  point : 

"PKOTECTION. THE      AVERAGE     "WAGES     OF     LABOR 

LESS    THAN    A   DOLLAR   A   DAY. 

"  The  '  New  York  Herald  '  is  not  much  impressed 
by  the  demonstrated  value  of  the  present  high  tariff 
to  laboring  men.  Eeferring  to  the  census  bureau 
statistics,  in  Bulletin  No.  302,  giving  the  number  of 
hands  employed,  the  amount  of  wages  paid,  and  the 
value  of  the  material  used,  and  the  value  of  all  the 
products  for  all  the  establishments  of  manufactur- 
ing industry  in  each  of  the  States  or  'J'erritories  as 
returned  at  the  census  of  1880,  the  'Herald'  thus 
comments : 

"  '  The  protectionists  having  had  full  swing  during 
the  decade  under  consideration,  we  look  to  find,  of 


228  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

course,  a  most  satisfactory  and  liberal  outlay  in  the 
way  of  wages  to  operatives,  as  set  forth  in  this  doc- 
ument. 

"  '  The  average  number  of  hands  employed  is  • 
2,738,950  in  253,840  establishments;  the  amount  of 
wages  paid  is  $947,919,674.  Dividing  one  by  the 
other,  we  find  the  net  average  annual  wages  of  our 
manufacturing  operatives  to  be  $346.08 — less  than  a 
dollar  a  day.  And  when  it  is  considered  that  this 
includes  all  those  skilled  operatives  who  are  paid 
high  wages,  it  may  be  imagined  that  the  rank  and 
file  are  not  very  well  equipped  financially  for  their 
struggle  with  life  ;  house-rent,  fi)od,  clothing,  fuel, 
light — all  to  be  supplied  from  less  than  a  dollar  a 
day.  And  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  this  exhibit 
occurs  on  account  of  the  employment  of  women  and 
children ;  the  fact  being,  that  these  form  only  26  per 
cent  of  the  whole  number  of  operatives.  The  fig- 
ures are : 

Males  above  16  years 2,025,279 

Females"      15     "     351,753 

Children  and  youths 181,918 

*"This  statement  shows  that  the  enormous  gratuity 
which  is  given  every  year  by  the  protective  tariff  to 
the  manufacturers  goes  into  their  own  jyocjcets.,  while 
the  operatives  are  ground  down  to  the    lowest 

POSSIBLE  WAGE. 

" '  As  the  jDrotective  tax  comes  also  out  of  the 
pockets  of  these  very  operatives,  the  rascally  circle 
is  complete. 

"  '  But  this  is  not  the  worst  of  it,  for  an  examina- 
tion of  the  census  of  1870  makes  the  following  show- 
ing: In  that  year  the  number  of  hands  employed 
in  the  manufactories  was  2,053,996,  and  the  amount 
of  wages  was  $775,584,348,  an  annual  average  wage 
of  $374.64,  or  131.56  more  than  in  1880.     So  that 


TARIFF.  229 

the  poor  wages  of  the  laboring  man  employed  in 
our  manufacturing  establishments  have  actually  de- 
clined in  the  ten  years  in  the  amount  of  131.56  each, 
or  more  than  8  per  cent.  While  all  this  leads  to 
the  suggestion  that  while  the  laboring  classes  are 
being  humbugged  by  the  manufactures  into  the  be- 
lief that  all  their  troubles  originate  with  the  capi- 
talists and  railroads,  they  may  as  well  commit  to 
memory  two  pregnant  facts  : 

'"1.  That  in  the  manufacturing  establishments 
the  net  average  wages  of  the  operative  is  $346.08 
per  year. 

" '  2.  That  even  this  paltry  sum  is  8  per  cent  less 
than  it  was  in  1870.'  " 

Both  the  dominant  parties  are  clamoring  for 
tariff,  and  to  make  the  thing  appear  different,  the 
Republicans  cry  out "'  protective  tariff,"  while  the 
Democrats  want  "  tariff  for  revenue  only."  All 
tariff  is  protective,  unless  confined  to  articles  not 
produced  in  the  country.  The  only  difference  is 
in  the  rate.  High  rate  gives  proportionate  pro- 
tection and  proportionate  revenue,  if  importations 
are  carried  on. 

"  A  tariff  for  protection  gives  to  the  manufactur- 
ei'S  a  monopoly,  in  some  cases  so  complete  as  to 
drive  the  foreign  article  from  our  poi'ts.  In  such 
cases,  the  government  receives  no  revenue,  but  the 
manufacturer  can  make  a  clear  profit  of  the  per  cent 
fixed  by  the  tariff,  all  of  which  is  eventually  paid 
by  the  consumer,  and  for  which  he  receives  no  con- 
sideration. To  illusti-ate  this,  let  us  take  the  duties 
ou  blankets  for  the  year  1871,  and  the  quantity  im- 


230  THE    NEAV    REPUBLIC. 

ported.  The  duty  on  the  four  classes  of  blankets  was 
87,  88,  100,  and  109  per  cent,  respectively.  The 
whole  imports  for  that  year  amounted  to  $19,355, 
and  the  tariff  duties  to  $17,316.  All  the  residue  of 
blankets  pur.chased  during  that  year  were  home  pro- 
ductions. The  manufacturer  has  only  to  mark  up 
his  price  to  realize  about  100  per  cent  over  the 
price  at  which  they  would  have  been  sold  but  for  the 
protective  tariff. 

'•  Take  boots  and  shoes  as  another  illustration. 
We  imported  none  in  1871,  and  of  course  no  reve- 
nue was  received  on  these  articles  in  that  year  ; 
yet  the  manufacturer  had  the  benefit  of  a  tariff  of 
35  per  cent  on  each  pair  sold.  If  a  pair  of  boots 
were  sold  at  $8,  the  protection  the  wearer  paid  to 
the  manufacturer  was  $2.80.  The  law  compels  the 
farmer  and  laborer  to  jiay  that  sum  as  a  bounty  to 
the  manufacturer. 

"  On  cotton  goods  the  consumer  jiays  a  duty  of 
from  85  to  03  per  cent.  For  almost  every  article 
of  clothing  worn  by  man,  woman,  or  child,  a  duty 
must  be  paid.  The  average  is  about  45  j^er  cent  on 
the  value. 

"  Prices  are  nearly  uniform  for  the  same  classes 
of  goods,  whether  of  foreign  or  domestic  manufac- 
ture. On  imported  articles  the  tariff  is  paid  to  the 
government ;  on  domestic  manufacture  the  duty  is 
paid  to  the  manufacturer.  This  system  compels 
the  poor  man  to  contribute  more  than  his  fair  pro- 
portion to  protect  the  already  rich  manufacturer. 
To  illustrate  this,  let  us  suppose  that  A  is  worth 
§500,000,  and  has  a  family  of  four  to  clothe,  while 
B  has  nothing  but  his  industry  and  perhaps  a  small 
liomestead,  and  a  family  of  eight  to  support.  Both 
families  must  be  clothed  and  fed ;  each  must  con- 
tribute to  the  manufacturer  the  same  rate  of  pro- 


TARIFF.  231 

tection.  The  man  with  liis  half  a  million  of 
property  and  family  of  four  will  probably  purchase 
as  much  for  his  family  as  the  poor  man  will  for  his 
iiamily  of  eight,  each  expending  say  |400.  If  the 
duty  on  the  pui'chase  averages  only  40  per  cent, 
each  pays  for  the  support  of  the  government  to 
protect  home  manufactures  $160,  The  sweat  and 
toil  of  the  poor  man  contributes  just  as  much  as 
the  rich  man's  half-million.  Or,  supj^ose  A  is  a 
man  without  a  family  and  has  great  wealth,  and  B 
is  dependent  on  a  small  farm  for  the  support  of 
himself  and  family.  A  spends  for  clothing  1200, 
while  B  is  obliged  to  expend  |400  for  clothing  for 
his  family.  Hence,  the  labor  of  the  poor  man  pays 
twice  as  much  as  the  capital  of  the  rich  man  to 
protect  home  industry  and  supj^ort  the  govern- 
ment. 

"  To  illustrate  the  difference  between  a  revenue  by 
tariff  and  direct  tax,  the  following  instance  is  given. 
A  has  $1,000  assessable  property,  consisting  of  a 
homestead,  and  working  tools,  etc.,  and  a  family  of 
five  to  support.  A  national  tax  of  one  half  of  one 
per  cent  on  $30,000,000,000  (the  assessable  prop- 
erty in  the  United  States)  would  bring  an  income 
of  $150,000,000.  B  is  worth  $500,000  and  has  a 
family  of  five  to  support.  By  direct  tax,  A  would 
pay  $5,  B  would  pay  $2,500,  A  revenue  by  tariff 
would  compel  A  to  pay  say  on  $200  of  dutiable 
articles  40  per  cent  (the  present  tariff  rate  is  over 
43  per  cent),  which  would  be  a  tax  of  $80,  instead  of 
$5  by  direct  tax ;  and  B,  who  would  purchase  say 
$400  of  dutiable  articles,  would  pay  $160  on  $500,000,' 
instead  of  $2,500  which  he  would  pay  by  direct  tax. 
The  injustice  is  as  80  :  1,000  : :  160  :  500,000.  The 
proportion  would  be  80  :  1,000  ::  160  :  2,000. 
B  escapes  paying  tax  on  $498,000  !     Thus  we  see 


232  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

that  a  revenue  by  tariff  throws  the  burden  on  the 
wealth-prodi;cers,  while  those  who  live  on  their 
ncome  nearly  escape  the  burden." — D.  C  Cloud 
in  Monopolies  and  the  People. 

If  this  subject  is  not  understood  by  the  people, 
capitalists  will  continue  to  enrich  themselves  un- 
der the  pretense  of  building  up  home  industries 
and  creating  a  home  market.  The  truth  is,  our 
ports  are  open  to  immigration,  drawn  to  this 
country  by  the  prospect  of  better  means  of 
livelihood  and  at  no  expense  to  capitalists,  to  com- 
jjcte  with  an  already  overcrowded  labor  market, 
while  the  capitalists  are  protected  and  enriched 
by  the  very  class  they  rob  and  oppress. 

If  labor  had  its  own  it  would  need  no  protec- 
tion. If  the  motive  powers  of  nature  and  the 
almost  unlimited  capacity  of  labor-saving  ma- 
chinery could  be  utilized  for  the  laborer  instead  of 
for  the  capitalist,  with  the  inexhaustible  resources 
of  the  country,  the  people  of  the  United  States 
could  compete  with  the  whole  world.  The  ten- 
dency of  American  genius  is  inventive  and  prac- 
tical. This  is  shown  in  the  manufacture  of 
watches.  In  Switzerland  each  piece  is  made  by 
hand,  a  necessarily  slow  and  tedious  process ; 
while  in  this  country  the  same  work  is  done  by 
machinery,  better  and  much  cheaper ;  and  as  a 
consequence,  American  watches  are  finding  a 
market  all  over  the  world. 


TARIFF.  233 

The  vast  wealth  resources  of  our  country  and 
the  ability  of  the  people  to  develop  them  are  be- 
yond computation.  Regulation  of  the  industries 
mio-ht  be  so  arrano-ed  as  to  secure  a  balance  in 
all.  With  adequate  facilities  for  exchange  and 
transportation,  we  could  furnish  manufactured 
articles  at  rates  that  would  allow  us  to  export  to 
other  countries  and  compete  with  them  in  their 
own  markets.  Such  stimulus  to  industry  would 
be  almost  inconceivable,  and  under  proper  re- 
strictions and  regulations  no  tariff,  however  high, 
could  affect  the  industrial  interests  of  the  people. 

The  American  Samson  has  been  shorn  of  his 
strength  while  asleep,  and  like  his  prototype  of 
old  his  locks  are  reappearing,  and  he  will  seize 
the  pillars  of  the  temple  of  monopoly,  and  bring 
to  destruction  all  his  enemies. 

It  is  humiliating  to  witness  the  gradual  de- 
struction of  our  commerce  by  the  operation  of 
protective  tariff. 

"  Tlie  fact  is  well  known  that  our  carrying  trade 
has  passed  into  the  hands  of  other  nations.  That 
vessels  can  be  built  more  cheaply  in  foreign  ports  is 
well  known ;  as  also  that  American  ship-owners 
build  or  purchase  their  ships  in  Europe,  sail  under 
English  colors,  and  use  English  pa})ers,  assigning  as 
a  reason  therefor  their  inability  to  ))ay  the  duty 
upon  the  materials  used  in  ship-building.  So  op- 
pressive is  this  duty,  and  so  damaging  has  it  become 
to  our  comraei-ce,  that  Congress  is  being  urged  to 


2o4  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

grant  subsidies  to  shii>owners.  As  a  necessary  re- 
sult of  this  system  of  protective  tariff,  the  American - 
built  ships  cannot  carry  freight  as  cheaply  as  those 
built  in  foreign  countries,  and  the  producer  must 
be  content  to  have  his  produce,  already  taxed  to 
half  or  two-thirds  its  value  for  inland  transporta- 
tion, taxed  beyond  the  amount  charged  by  the  ves- 
sels of  other  nations  for  ocean  transportation,  or 
allow  the  ocean  trade  to  remain  as  it  now  is  in  the 
hands  of  England. 

"American  seamen  must  abandon  the  ocean  or 
sail  under  foreign  flags.  Protection  has  destroyed 
our  mercantile  navy,  and  compelled  our  seamen  to 
seek  employment  elsewhere  and  in  other  occupa- 
tions. With  our  vast  agricultural  wealth,  demand- 
ing the  markets  of  the  world,  the  protection  policy 
of  the  government  effectually  closes  our  j^orts  to 
other  nations,  while  the  farmer  is  obliged  to  accept 
for  his  grain  the  low  price  that  a  home  market  al- 
ready glutted  will  afford  him." — Ibid. 

Mr.  Julian,  who  has  been  quoted  in  a  former 
chapter,  said  on  the  same  occasion : 

"  Our  tariff  laws  for  years  past,  while  jiretending 
to  favor  the  laborer,  have  been  framed  in  the  in- 
terest of  monopolists.  The  duty  on  coal,  which  is 
a  necessity  of  life,  admits  of  no  defense.  To  tax 
coal  is  to  tax  the  poor  man's  fire,  to  '  tax  the  force 
of  the  steam-engine,  to  starve  the  laborer  on  whom 
we  depend  for  work.' 

"  The  duty  on  leather  has  increased  its  cost  an- 
nually about  ten  million  dollars,  while  the  consum- 
ers of  boots  and  shoes  have  had  to  pay  an  increase 
of  some  fifteen  millions  of  dollars.  The  duty  on 
lumber  has  lai-gely  increased  its  price,  and  is  wholly 


TARIFF.  235 

jDaid  by  the  consumer.  The  duties  on  wool,  salt, 
and  pig-iron  impose  heavy  burdens  on  the  poor,  and, 
like  the  other  duties  named,  can  scarcely  be  de- 
fended, even  granting  the  principle  of  protection  to 
be  sound.  This  legislative  discrimination  in  favor 
of  the  richer  and  more  favored  ranks  in  society,  and 
against  the  laboring  and  producing  masses,  ought 
to  cease.  Instead  of  being  loaded  down  with  bur- 
dens and  exactions  for  the  aggrandizenient  of  the 
few,  they  should  share  the  ujistinted  favor  of  the 
government." 

Thus  the  scheme  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
capital,  under  the  pretense  of  public  good,  has 
been  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  successful  of 
accomplishments. 

It  cannot  be  too  often  nor  too  strongly  urged 
upon  the  mind,  the  power  and  obstinacy  of  pre- 
conceived opinion.  Pride  of  opinion  has  mucli 
to  do  with  it.  The  reason  why  pertinacity  of 
opinion  is  so  strong  with  some  is  because  such 
love  of  self  is  stronger  than  love  of  justice. 
Neither  can  the  importance  of  right-thinking  be 
overestimated. 

In  regard  to  the  subject  under  consideration, 
the  accumulation  of  wealth  by  levying  contribu- 
tions upon  the  sources  of  it,  not  only  the  tempo- 
ral and  physical  needs  of  society  are  seriously 
disturbed,  but  the  very  basis  upon  which  a  better 
system  can  be  built  is  rapidly  getting  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  people,  and  a  system  founded  upon 


236  THE    NEW    llEPUBLIC. 

rule  and  service  will  be  adjusted  upon  an  im- 
movable and  permanent  basis.  Such  a  system, 
by  controlling  industry  and  gauging  the  produc- 
er's share  to  the  "minimum  at  which  the  supply 
of  labor  can  be  kept  u]),"  will  be  organized  into 
a  perfect  science,  and  the  vast  outlay  of  wealth 
will  be  devoted  to  the  arts  of  oppression  instead 
of  being  employed  in  the  building  up  of  a  higher 
civilization. 

"  The  great  aggregations  of  wealth,"  says  Henry 
George,  "  are  like  great  trees  which  strike  deep 
roots  and  spread  wide  branches,  and  which,  by 
sucking  up  the  moisture  from  the  soil,  and  inter- 
cepting the  sunshine,  stunt  and  kill  the  vegetation 
around  them.  When  capitals  of  millions  of  dollars 
come  in  competition  with  capitals  of  thousands  of 
dollars,  the  smaller  capitalists  must  be  driven  out  of 
the  business  or  be  destroyed.  With  great  capital, 
nothing  can  compete  but  great  capital.  Hence,  ev- 
ery aggregation  of  wealth  increases  the  tendency  to 
the  aggregation  of  wealth  and  decreases  the  possibil- 
ity of  the  employee  ever  becoming  more  than  an 
employee ;  compelling  him  to  compete  with  his 
fellows  as  to  who  will  work  cheapest  for  the  great 
capitalist — a  competition  that  can  have  but  one 
result:  that  of  forcing  wages  to  the  minimum  at 
which  the  supply  of  labor  can  be  kept  up.  Where 
we  are  is  not  so  important  as  in  what  direction  we 
are  going;  and  in  the  United  States  all  tendencies 
are  clearly  in  this  direction.  A  while  ago  any  jotir- 
neyman  shoemaker  could  set  up  a  business  for  him- 
self with  the  savings  of  a  few  months,  but  now  the 
operative  shoemaker  could  not  in  a  lifetime  go  into 
business  for  himself. 


TARIFF.  237 

"  And  now  that  great  capital  has  entered  agricul- 
ture, it  must  be  with  the  same  results.  The  large 
farmer  who  can  buy  the  latest  machinery  at  the 
lowest  cash  prices  and  use  it  at  to  the  best  advan- 
tages ;  who  can  run  a  straight  furrow  for  miles ; 
who  can  make  special  rates  with  railroad  companies, 
take  advantage  of  the  market,  and  sell  in  large  lots 
for  the  least  commission — must  drive  out  the  small 
farmer  of  the  early  American  tyj^e,  just  as  the  shoe 
factory  has  driven  out  the  journeyman  shoemaker. 
And  this  is  going  on  to-day." — Henry  George. 

Observing  and  reflective  minds  throughout  the 
country  perceive  the  inevitable  consequences  of 
present  conditions,  and  it  is  only  for  the  people  to 
realize  the  direction  in  which  they  are  going  to 
arrest  the  fatal  tendenc3^ 

One  of  the  causes  of  this  condition  and  this  in- 
evitable tendency  is  the  operation  of  our  tariff 
system.  At  first,  the  weak  and  helpless  condi- 
tion of  manufacturing  industries  invited  and 
seemed  to  demand  protection,  and  it  offered  such 
convenient  facilities  for  the  collection  of  revenue 
thsit  it  was  not  difficult  to  Inaugurate  the  system. 

As  a  system  of  revenue  it  is  grossly  unjust,  be- 
cause it  lays  the  burden  of  taxation  upon  labor 
instead  of  on  property,  and  as  a  system  of  pro- 
tection, it  protects  the  wolf  instead  of    the  lamb. 

"  Nature  creates  the  middle  classes,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Swing ;  "  the  two  extremes,  being  of  human 
origin,  are  the  outgrowth  of  false  and  periiicious 


238  TITE   NEW    REPUBLIC. 

systems  of  political  economy,  class  laws,  and  spe- 
cial legislation,  and  one  is  the  inevitable  result  of 
the  other."  This  states  in  general  terms  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Avhole  matter,  and  a  prominent  fea- 
ture of  "  false  and  pernicious  systems  of  political 
economy  "  is  a  tax  laid  on  imported  commodities 
"  to  protect  home  industries  and  furnish  a  reve- 
nue for  the  government." 

The  necessity  for  raising  a  revenue  to  meet  the 
expenditures  of  the  civil  war  served  as  an  excuse 
to  increase  the  rate  and  enlarge  the  class  of 
articles  made  dutiable,  and  now  the  average  ad 
valorem  tax  is  over  43  per  cent  and  the  list  of 
articles  has  swelled  to  the  volume  of  three  thou- 
sand. On  some  of  them  tlie  rate  has  reached  the 
point  of  prohibition  of  importation.  In  such  cases 
the  home  manufacturer  marks  his  price  accord- 
ingly. 

The  remedy  has  already  been  hinted  at.  Throw 
off  the  restraints  on  labor,  give  it  the  benefits  of 
a  true  medium  of  excliange,  freedom  from  land 
monopoly,  a  co-operative  system  in  all  public  en- 
terprises, and  man's  inventive  genius  in  mechan- 
ical invention,  and  with  the  vast  and  inexhausti- 
ble resources  of  potential  wealth,  the  power  of 
foreign  competition  would  no  longer  serve  as  an 
excuse  to  enrich  capital  by  impoverishing  labor, 
and  direct  taxation,  the  only  just  method  of  rals- 


TARIFF.  239 

ing  a  revenue,  would  be  the  source  for  govern- 
ment expenditures. 

Another  serious  objection  to  the  tariff  system 
is  the  corruption  that  springs  from  the  patronage 
of  the  government  in  appointing  officers  to  con- 
duct it.  The  power  and  importance  of  the  ad- 
ministi'ation  consists  in  a  great  measure  in  the 
appointment  of  this  service,  and  the  strife  for  gov- 
ernment control  itensifies  party  spirit  to  such  an 
extent  that  politicians  are  enabled  to  "take  cap- 
tive "  the  will  of  the  people,  and  thus  perpetuate 
existing  evils. 

The  enormous  expense  of  collection  is  another 
objection.  Revenue  by  direct  tax  could  be  col- 
lected by  the  metliod  for  the  collection  of  state 
tax,  and  along  with  it,  thus  saving  to  the  people 
an  army  of  custom-house  officers  and  others  con- 
nected with  the  collection  of  customs. 

It  is  the  business  of  politicians  to  mystify  by 
sophistries  and  half-truths  with  wrong  conclu- 
sions. There  has  been  so  much  said  and  written 
on  this  subject,  and  so  many  falsities  and  theoret- 
ical speculations,  that  it  is  no  difficult  matter  to 
keep  the  agitation  up  for  political  purposes.  The 
politician  presumes  for  his  strength  and  success 
upon  the  people's  ignorance,  but  is  cunning 
enough  not  to  let  them  suspect  his  trick.  With 
a  show  of  giving  them  credit  for  much  wisdom 


240  THE   NEW    REPUBLIC. 

and  sagacity,  he  offers  them  the  merest  shams 
and  pretenses,  and  depends  on  his  art  and  soph- 
istry in  pahiiing  them  off  as  sound  doctrine.  To 
insure  success,  the  politicians  itensify  and  im- 
bitter  party  spirit  to  give  direction  to  popular 
thought,  and  so  prevent  the  examination  and  dis- 
cussion of  true  principles  of  government.  Thus 
they  make  the  people's  strifes  and  dissentions 
their  strength. 


CORPORATIONS.  241 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

CORPORATIONS. 

""Work,  ■rt^ork,  work  ; 

My  labor  never  flags  ; 
And  what  are  its  wages  ?    A  bed  of  straw, 

A  crust  of  bread — and  rags. 
That  shattered  roof,  and  this  naked  floor, 

A  table,  a  broken  chair  ; 
And  a  wall  so  blank  my  shadow  I  thank 

For  sometimes  falling  there." 

"  A  CORPORATION"  is  a  civil  institution,  or,  as  it  is 
sometimes  termed,  '  a  body  politic'  the  essential 
character  of  which  is  that  it  has  a  legal  existence 
as  a  person  under  the  name  given  it  by  legislative 
authority,  either  by  express  charter  or  by  prescrip- 
tion which  implies  a  charter." — American  Cyclo- 
pedia. 

Corporations  for  the  aggregation  and  accumu- 
lation of  wealth  are  of  comparatively  modern 
origin.  Recent  writers  on  political  economy 
seem  to  turn  their  attention  to  the  consideration 
of  the  most  effective  methods  of  concentrating 
wealth  and  accumulating  large  capital  for  the 
production  of  wealth  as  the  leading  object  of 
government ;  and  corporations  are  the  most  effi- 
cient instrumentalities  for  that  purpose. 

A  corporation  has  a  legal  existence  as  a  per- 
il 


242  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

son.  While  the  rights  of  a  person  are  limited  to 
his  natural  life,  and  he  is  restrained  by  conscien- 
tious considerations  and  social  dependencies,  cor- 
porations are  renewed  in  their  existence,  and 
having  no  obligations  to  society,  they  ai'e  free  to 
act  solely  in  the  interests  for  which  they  are 
created,  therefore  relentless  in  their  greed  and 
despotic  In  their  rule. 

"  The  king  of  England  lives  forever.  He  passes 
through  many  forms,  but  he  does  not  die.  He  is  a 
great  conquerer,  a  great  warrior,  a  vain  and  arro- 
gant woman,  a  fop,  a  libertine,  an  idiot,  a  states- 
man, sage,  and  soldier,  a  fierce  and  cruel  tyrant,  a 
stupid  beer-drinker,  a  sober  matron;  but  all  the 
time  king. 

"  So  a  corporation  lives  forever.  It  is  even  worse 
than  a  king,  for  it  has  no  human  feeling  or  emo- 
tion. Its  motive  power  is  profit,  and  its  only  in- 
spiration is  avarice.  The  corporation  is  a  greater 
menace  than  noble  or  king." 

It  is  a  law  of  nature  that  the  greater  attracts 
the  less.  All  bodies  attract  directly  in  propor- 
tion to  their  quantity  of  matter.  The  principle 
holds  good  in  political  economy.  A  number  of 
natural  persons,  having  their  natural  rights  rec- 
ognized by  law,  associate  into  a  body  politic  for 
some  financial  or  industrial  enterprise,  combine 
their  capital,  and  become  a  power  much  greater 
than  their  dissociate  powers,  which,  however,  re- 
main intact. 


CORPORATIONS.  243 

A  corporation,  having  been  formed  for  a  spe- 
cial purpose,  is  bound  to  its  accomplishment ;  for 
that,  it  exists.  A  power  is  created  hy  law,  vest- 
ing in  individuals  rights  in  addition  to  their 
natural  rights.  Here  is  a  disturbance  of  po- 
litical equilibrium,  and  the  whole  fabric  is 
affected.  These  combine,  and  thus  the  power  of 
vested  rights  gains  the  ascendency,  and  a  few 
control  the  many.  Sometimes  a  single  individ- 
ual becomes  a  "  body  politic,"  having  previously 
associated  himself  with  others  and  gained  a  foot- 
hold  by  indomitable  energy  and  deep  forethought, 
outstripes  his  fellows  in  the  race  and  gains  a  su- 
preme control.  How  nearly  this  condition  of 
things  is  reached  may  be  seen  in  the  person  of 
Jay  Gould.  Another  instance  is  William  Van- 
derbilt,  who  within  the  year  has  accumulated 
120,000,000. 

The  fact  that  not  one  cent  of  this  vast  sum 
was  earned  or  produced  by  him  will  assist  in  re- 
alizing the  gross  outrage  this  is  upon  labor,  and 
how  destructive  to  a  free  government  such  a  vast 
power  becomes. 

It  is  a  general  opinion  that  corporations  arc 
necessary  for  carrying  on  great  enterprises  re- 
quiring innnense  outlay  of  capital.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  in  public  enterprises  all  are 
equally  interested,  and  a  fund  should  be  furnished 


244  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC, 

from  the  public  treasury  to  curry  on  these  enter- 
prises, and  conducted  by  the  respective  jurisdic- 
tions for  which  they  were  intended ;  then  all 
would  be  equal  recipients  in  its  benefits. 

Thus  a  highway  or  bridge,  the  improvement 
of  a  navigable  stream,  a  canal  or  the  building  of 
a  railway  or  telegraph  line,  should  be  carried 
on  for  the  benefit  of  the  township,  county,  state, 
or  general  government,  according  to  the  conven- 
ience and  requirements  of  each. 

The  canal  system  of  the  State  of  New  York 
affords  demonstrable  proof  of  the  practicability  of 
state  corporations. 

"  De  Witt  Clinton  broke  with  his  own  hand  the 
ground  in  the  beginning  of  the  enterprise  (the  Erie 
Canal),  July  4, 1817;  and  overcoming  constant,  un- 
remitting, and  factious  resistance,  he  had  the  feli- 
city of  being  borne,  in  October,  1825,  in  a  barge  on 
the  artificial  river  which  he  seemed  lo  all  to  have 
constri¥)ted  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  bay  of  New 
York,  while  bells  were  ringing  and  cannons  saluted 
him  at  every  stage  of  the  imposing  progress.  No 
sooner  had  that  great  work  been  undertaken,  in 
1817,  than  the  population  of  the  State  began  to 
swell  with  augmentation  from  other  States  and 
from  abroad ;  prosperity  became  universal ;  old 
towns  and  cities  expanded,  and  new  cities  rose  and 
multiplied ;  agriculture,  manufacture,  and  com- 
merce quickened  in  their  movements,  and  wealth 
flowed  in  upon  the  State  from  all  directions." — 
American  (Jyclopedia. 


CORPORATIONS.  245 

The  New  York  State  canals  have  an  aorjjreo-ate 
length  of  886  miles. 

"The  gross  earnhigs  of  these  canals  for  the 
four  years  from  September  30,  1860,  to  1864  was 
817,722,384.  After  paying  the  expenses  of  superin- 
tendence and  ordinary  repairs  for  the  same  period, 
the  net  balance  of  surplus  revenue  was  §14,442,408." 

This  is  an  income  to  the  State  of  $3,610,602  a 
year,  and  shows  how  much  could  be  saved  to 
the  people  if  the  government  conducted  all  pub- 
lic enterprises. 

"De  Witt  Clinton  had  the  good  fortune  to  ma- 
ture the  system  of  finance  which  enabled  the  State, 
unconscious  of  expense  or  care^  to  begin  and  carry 
out  his  policy  of  internal  improvement." — Ameri- 
can Cyclopedia. 

How  much  of  wise  political  economy  is  ex- 
pressed in  this  brief  statement !  The  rapid 
increase  of  population,  the  universal  prosperity, 
the  multiplicity  of  towns  and  cities,  the  quicken- 
ing of  industries  and  the  increase  of  wealth,  the 
wisdom  and  efficiency  of  their  management,  and 
the  financial  measures,  "  unconscious  of  expense 
or  care,"  in  this  vast  and  magnificent  enterprise 
carried  on  by  a  State  corporation.  Why  do  not 
other  statesmen  arise  and  put  into  practice  what 
is  here  so  clearly  demonstated?  Corporate 
greed  rules  the  nation,  and  a  score  of  De  Witt 


246  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

Clintons,  working  in  unison  and  with  most  per- 
sistent energy,  could  do  nothing  should  they  at- 
tempt  in  opposition  to  corporations.  This  greedy 
monster  must  be  throttled,  his  power  crushed 
out,  and  EQUALITY  OF  EIGHTS  established  be- 
fore liberty  can  be  restored. 

Our  postal  system  is  another  instance  in  which 
an  extensive  and  complicated  enterprise  is  car- 
ried on.  Our  educational  system  and  military 
service  are  other  proofs  of  the  ability  for  public 
enterprises  on  a  vast  scale  to  be  conducted  by 
the  government. 

In  all  enterprises  of  a  private  character,  no  one 
has  a  right  to  appropriate  more  legal  power  than 
another,  because  the  rights  of  all  are  equal ;  and 
to  vest  special  power  in  some  ignores  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  our  independence  was  won  and 
renders  a  free  government  impossible. 

"  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that 
all  men  are  created  equal."  There  can  be  no 
equality  where  one  citizen  is  vested  with  legal 
power  to  do  what  another  is  forbidden  to  do. 
The  objector  may  urge  that  all  have  a  right  to 
incorporate.  If  for  private  purposes,  then  no 
one  would  be  the  gainer.  The  quality  of  corpo- 
rate power  consists  in  giving  to  the  incorporators 
an  advantage  over  others,  lor  if  nothing  is  gained, 
there  is  no  object  in  incorporating. 


CORPORATIONS.*  247 

A  receives  a  charter  authorizing  him  to  erect 
a  bridge,  and  guarantees  that  no  other  bridge 
shall  be  built  within  three  miles  of  it  on  the 
same  stream.  Why  is  this  special  privilege  giv- 
en to  A  ?  It  is  said  to  induce  him  to  build  the 
bridge,  and  a  maximum  toll  is  prescribed  to  pro- 
tect the  public  from  extortion.  His  charter 
grants  him  a  power;  otherwise,  why  the  re- 
straint ? 

This  is  the  simplest  case  in  which  a  corpora- 
tion can  exist,  and  yet  it  is  an  injustice.  Within 
twenty-five  years,  corporations  have  extended  to 
all  enterprises  where  capital  can  be  best  invested 
and  industry  monopolized. 

"  The  best  lawyers,  the  best  inventors,  the  best 
business  men,  are  all  on  the  pay-roll  of  the  monopo- 
lists. The  corporations  have  not  only  monopolized 
the  means  of  producing  wealth,  but  they  are  even 
forcing  a  '  corner '  in  brains.  In  attracting  to  them- 
selves the  service  of  the  most  active  and  vigor- 
ous intellects  and  strongest  wills,  the  confederate 
monopolies  are  doubly  intrenched.  The  past  his- 
tory of  the  world  gives  no  record  of  any  sys- 
tem of  oppression  so  insidious,  so  strong,  and  so 
all-pervading  as  that  of  the  jiredatory  corporations 
which  are  absorbing  the  substance  and  undermining 
the  liberties  of  the  American  people." 

They  are  the  machinery  by  which  the  robbery 
of  the  people  is  accomplished.  Banking  corpor- 
ations control  the  currency  of  the  nation,  a  power 


248  TIIE    NEW    KEPUBLIC. 

incalculable  and  inconceivable.  The  volume  and 
stability  or  instability  of  the  circulating  medium 
directly  affects  the  jjrice  of  commodities ;  it  de^ 
termines  the  rate  of  interest  by  w^hich  millions 
are  taken  from  labor  to  enrich  corporations. 

Had  the  men  who  were  instrumental  in  the 
creation  of  these  banking  corporations  been  con- 
scientious, there  would  have  been  some  palliation 
and  some  hope  that  they  would  relinquish  their 
powder  when  they  were  convinced  of  the  wrong ; 
but  when  we  know  that  they  are  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  results  and  aimed  to  bring  them 
about,  we  can  feel  nothing  but  execration  for  the 
crimes  they  are  committing.  They  know  the  ef- 
fects of  contraction  and  expansion  of  the  curren- 
cy. They  must  therefore  be  declared  guilty  of 
deliberate  intent  to  rob  the  nation  of  billions  of 
dollars,  with  the  full  knowledge  that  it  would 
drive  multitudes  to  bankruptcy  and  ruin.  To 
sanction  this  diabolical  scheme  by  legalizing  it 
only  adds  to  its  perfidy  by  investing  it  with  the 
authorit}^  of  the  government.  And  these  men 
are  honored  and  trusted,  and  permitted  to  con- 
tinue to  control  the  currency  and  rule  prices. 

"  The  people  sleep  in  ignorance,  or  such  a  thing 
could  not  be  jjossible.  When  they  awake,  God 
have  mercy  on  their  oppressors,  for  they  will  not." 
— Leo  Miller. 


CORPORATIONS.  249 

It  is  by  corporations  that  transportation  is  car- 
ried on.  Combinations  are  effected,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  the  canal  system  above  noted, 
the  entire  carrying  trade  is  monopolized;  dis- 
criminations are  made,  the  people  are  insulted 
and  robbed  and  placed  at  their  mercy.  Although 
demanding  a  paying  rate  on  an  enormous  outlay 
of  capital  (watered  stock),  yet  they  refuse  to  pay 
taxes  on  an  assessment  of  one-fourth  of  the  value 
of  their  roads,  to  say  nothing  of  the  immense  sub- 
sidies granted  to  them  by  the  government. 

And  now  ex-Senator  Conkling,  in  defending  a 
corporation  that  refused  to  pay  its  taxes  and  ap- 
^Dealed  the  case  to  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  declares  it  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a 
person  in  law,  and  as  such  is  to  be  protected  by 
the  provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  amend- 
ed Article  XIV.  Sec.  1,  under  the  following 
clause  :  "  Nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any  person 
of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process 
of  law,  nor  deny  to  any  pex'son  within  its  juris- 
diction the  equal  protection  of  the  laws"  ;  thus 
making  a  corporation  the  agent  of  an  outrageous 
robbery,  and  the  United  States  Constitution  the 
authority  for  it. 

Vast  aggregations  of  capital  in  manufacturing 
enterprises    are  effected    by  corporations  which 
exercise  their  power  in  securing  the  protection 
11* 


250  THE  NEW   REPUBLIC. 

of  the  government  in  laying  high  duties  on  im- 
poi'ted  commodities,  and  thus  imposing  a  heavy 
and  unjust  burden  on  hibor. 

The  lines  of  communication  for  intelligence 
are  controlled  by  corporations.  The  advantage 
of  this  control  is  of  incalculable  value.  The 
state  of  the  market,  both  foreign  and  domestic, 
the  fluctuations  in  the  stock  market,  the  schemes 
and  manipulations  in  political  transactions,  and 
shaping  intelligence  for  the  press  cannot  be  over- 
estimated ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  immense  reve- 
nues derived  from  it. 

Corporations  for  insurance  business  and  stock 
operations,  mining  associations,  in  trade,  and 
even  in  agriculture,  organize  their  forces  and 
carry  on  their  operations  to  control  labor.  They 
are  conspiracies  against  labor  that  seek  to  appro- 
priate its  fruits  and  enslave  the  toiler ;  they  are 
usurpations  of  natural  rights,  inspired  by  greed 
and  for  self-aggrandizement.  In  other  countries, 
rights,  privileges,  and  powers  are  recognized  as 
hereditary ;  in  this  they  are  secured  by  legal 
enactments.  In  other  countries,  class  distinctions 
of  rich  and  poor,  of  high  and  low,  bond  and 
free,  are  supported  by  heredity ;  in  this  they  are 
established  hy  law.  While  they  increase  with 
unexampled  rapidity,  there  is  neither  time  nor 
opportunity  for  culture,  and  indeed,  no  inclina' 


CORPORATIONS.  251 

tlon  for  It ;  in  other  countries  the  aristocracy 
support  their  distinction  by  superior  intelligence 
and  culture,  and  that  class  possess  genuine  merit ; 
but  our  "aristocracy,"  founded  on  wealth,  are 
characterized  by  arrogance,  presumption,  greed, 
tyranny,  and  aping  the  style  and  manners  of 
foreign  aristocracy,  with  all  their  vices,  but  with- 
out their  virtues. 

Wealth,  combined  and  employed  as  capital, 
possesses  vastly  more  power  than  if  employed  in 
separate  enterprises.  Let  twenty  men  with 
$5,000  each  associate  their  capital,  or  let  them 
employ  it  separately.  Suppose  it  to  be  for  the 
manufactuae  of  woolen  goods.  The  grounds, 
sites,  and  buildings  would  be  important  items  in 
the  estimate,  and  would  be  a  savino-  in  a  com- 
bined  capital  of  more  than  half  in  them.  The 
purchase  of  machinei-y  for  a  single  establish- 
ment with  a  capital  of  $100,000  would  be  much 
more  advantageous  and  economical  than  for 
twenty  manufactories  of  $5,000  each  ;  the  num- 
ber of  operatives,  overseers,  and  skilled  laborers 
would  be  proportionally  less  in  one  large  estab- 
lishment, the  advantages  of  the  purchase  of  stock 
and  the  sale  of  goods  would  also  correspond. 
Taking  all  these  advantages,  in  favor  of  large 
establishments — for  the  difference  is  not  gain — 
we    find  thcni  to  be  greatly  in   favor  of   large 


252  THE   NEW    REPUBLIC. 

capital.  Any  business  enlarged  is  proportion- 
ately more  profitable.  If  a  farmer  should  divide 
his  farm  and  carry  on  two  distinct  operations,  with 
two  sets  of  buildings,  the  necessary  additional 
fencing  implements,  and  the  added  care  of  man- 
gement,  he  would  see  the  benefit  of  combination. 
Corporations  secure  all  these  advantages  by  the 
creation  of  a  separate  "  person  "  in  law,  exercising 
the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  an  individual,  with 
full  power  to  push  his  enterprises  without  restraint 
of  conscience,  social  dependence,  or  responsibil- 
ity. These  legal  robbers  associate,  conspire,  and 
confederate,  being  organized  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  gain,  and  free  from  all  obligations  to  society, 
they  build  up  in  few  hands  immense  power  to 
prey  upon  the  people  and  rob  them  of  the  nat- 
ural rights — nay,  worse  :  through  the  machinery 
of  government  they  compel  the  people  to  carry 
on  these  outrages  against  themselves  ! 

There  is  one  class  of  citizens — the  wage-earners 
— who  seem  to  be,  by  their  poverty  and  utter  de- 
pendence on  corporate  capital,  hopelessly  lost. 
They  have  gone  over  "  to  the  bleak  barrens  and 
ice-walled  shores  of  the  frozen  zone  of  poverty." 
The  millions  they  create  serve  to  perpetuate 
their  poverty,  and  the  ballots  they  hold  have 
placed  them  in  the  condition  of  slavery,  and 
continue  to  hold   them    there.      Poverty  is  the 


CORPORATIONS.  253 

greatest  foe  to  moi'ality  and  intelligence.  It 
dulls  the  finer  sensibilities,  and  takes  away  all 
aspiration  for  anything  manlike  and  noble ;  and 
by  constant  and  daily  contact  with  physical 
forces,  blunts  and  hardens  the  whole  being. 
Wearied  and  worn  with  toil,  one  seeks  rest  and 
sleep,  only  to  awaken  to  renewed  toil  and  weari- 
ness. No  time,  no  means,  no  opportunity,  and 
finally  no  desire  for  intellectual  and  moral  cul- 
ture, and  as  the  "  weary  plowman  plods  his  way," 
so  plod  the  weary  toilers,  victims  to  the  greed 
and  tyranny  of  corporate  power. 

Professor  Carey  says  :  "  Under  the  established 
systems,  the  middle  classes  tend  to  pass  away, 
and  its  condition  is  well  expi*essed  by  the  term, 
'  the  uneasy  class.'  There  is  a  permanent  strife 
for  life,  and  man  endeavoring  to  snatch  the  bread 
from  his  neighbor's  moutli."  The  wao;e-earner 
may  be  consigned  to  the  category  of  slavery,  the 
"  middle  class  "  are  on  their  way,  and  no  remedy 
now  prescribed,  no  powers  now  invoked,  will 
stay  them  from  the  same  fate.  Instead  of  there 
being  anything  to  prevent  the  enslavement  of  the 
laborer,  there  is  everything  to  facilitate  it.  The 
government  is  the  agency  employed  by  corpora- 
tions, and  the  law  the  instrumentality  by  which 
millionaires  and  paupers  arc  made. 

What  does  suffrage  amount  to  when  votes  can 


254  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

be  boiiglit  at  a  mere  nouiiual  price  on  election 
clay,  or  dictated  by  fear  of  starvation  ?  It  serves 
to  add  to  the  political  power  of  wealth,  and  the 
establishment  of  tyranny. 

In  spite  of  all  the  j)recautions  of  the  people  of 
California  to  guard  and  protect  their  liberties  by 
constitutional  enactment,  the  insidious  power  of 
corjjorations  crept  in  and  intrenched  itself  in  its 
provisions.  The  artful  framers  set  out  with  a 
"Declaration  of  Eights"  in  the  followino;  Ian- 
guage : 

"All  men  are  by  nature  free  and  independent, 
and  have  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which 
are  those  of  enjoying  and  defending  life  and  liberty ; 
acquiring,  possessing,  and  protecting  property,  and 
pursuing  and  obtaining  safety  and  happiness. 

"  All  political  power  is  in  the  people.  Govern- 
ment is  instituted  for  th.e  jirotection,  s°.curity,  and 
benefit  of  the  people,  and  they  have  the  right  to 
alter  or  reform  the  same  whenever  the  public  good 
may  require  it." 

In  section  4,  article  12,  we  find  the  following 
definition  of  "  corporation"  : 

"The  term  'corporations'  as  used  in  this  article 
shall  be  construed  to  include  all  associations  and 
joint-stock  companies  having  any  of  the  powers  or 
privileges  of  corporations  7iot  possessed  by  i?idivkl- 
uals  or  partnerships ;  and  all  corporations  shall 
have  the  right  to  sue  and  be  sued  in  all  courts  in 
like  cases  as  natural  persons." 


CORPORATIONS.  255 

The  new  Constitution  of  Cfiliforniji  declares, 
"  All  men  are  by  nature  free  and  independent, 
and  have  certain  inalienable  rights"  ;  and  then  in 
art.  12,  sec.  4,  it  proceeds  to  alienate  them  by 
declaring  corporations  "to  include  all  associations 
....  having  any  of  the  powers  or  privileges  of 
corporations  not  i^ossessed  by  individuals^  Here 
we  have  a  declaration  of  personal  rights,  and  a 
provision  in  the  same  instrument  conferring 
"powers  and  privileges"  on  corporations  "not 
possessed  by  individuals  and  partnerships." 

The  aim  and  intent  of  corporate  power  is  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  few  by  the  accumulation 
of  wealth.  The  productive  power  evoked  from 
heat  and  electricity  applied  to  mechanical  Inven- 
tion has  increased  the  means  for  creating  wealth 
a  hundred-fold,  and  by  means  of  corporations 
this  power  is  utilized  in  the  hands  of  the  few. 
Hence,  it  is  impossible  to  maintain  political  equal- 
ity, without  which  a  republic  cannot  exist. 

In  all  cases  the  tendency  of  advancing  civiliza- 
tion is  the  increase  of  jiower  of  producing  wealth 
to  meet  the  increasino;  needs  advancinjj  civiliza- 
tion  creates.  Every  power  that  increases  the 
production  of  wealth  is  monopolized  by  corpora- 
tions by  virtue  of  aggregated  capital  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  vested  "  rights."  The  laborer  has  no 
more  interest  in  the  production  of  wealth  than 


256  THE    ^'EW    EEPUBLIC. 

the  Cuban  slave,  and  Is  reduced  to  wages  upon 
which  all  his  interests  concentrate. 

Thus  robbed  of  all  the  benefits  of  productive 
jiower,  labor  is  reduced  to  utter  dependence  on 
those  who  exercise  it ;  machinery  takes  the  place 
of  manual  labor,  and  the  capitalist  owns  the  one 
and  controls  the  other.  This  control  is  by  the 
agency  of  corporations ;  therefore  corporations 
are  the  enemies  of  republicanism,  and  the  two 
cannot  co-exist  in  the  same  government.  By  cor- 
porations, in  the  midst  of  wealth  poverty  exists, 
political  equality  is  destroyed,  and  society  separ- 
ated into  ever-receding  divisions  of  proud  and 
haughty  snobs  and  poor  and  humble  slaves.  Cor- 
porations serve  the  purpose  of  a  huge  wedge, 
driven  not  under  society  as  a  whole  to  lift  it  up, 
but  in  the  midst  of  it,  forcing  one  part  up  and 
the  other  down,  and  destroying  the  equality ; 
and  thus  the  lower  stratum  loses  the  essential 
qusvlities  of  manhood  and  becomes  a  slave,  a  ma- 
chine, a  commodity  in  character  and  destiny. 

The  question  may  arise  in  the  present  condi- 
tion of  society.  How  can  the  vast  enterprises  for 
the  production  of  wealth  be  carried  on  without 
corporations  ?  Even  the  manufacture  of  a  pin 
requires  a  capital  expressed  by  scores  of  thou- 
sands, and  so  great  is  the  division  of  labor  that 
individual  enterprise  seems  out  of  the  question. 


CORPOKATIO.XS,  257 

Co-operation  is  the  answer.  Let  the  producer 
have  an  equitable  interest  in  the  outcome  of  the 
enterprise.  The  experience  of  the  Rochdale  en- 
terjn'ise  in  England,  and  others  of  still  greater 
magnitude,  not  only  demonstrate  the  practica- 
bility of  co-operation,  but  the  fact  that  it  has 
gone  into  practical  operation.  The  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  Mr.  Holyoke's  works. 

In  individual  enterprises,  all  are  entitled  to  an 
equal  opportunity  to  acquire  the  means  of  life, 
and  the  combination  of  capital  for  the  advantages 
it  gives  should  be  shared  by  all  in  proportion 
to  their  contribution  in  labor  or  capital.  We 
must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  people 
have  something  else  to  do  besides  "  making 
money."  The  production  of  wealth  as  an  end 
is  vitiating  and  degrading.  Wealth  is  only  the 
preliminary  condition,  tlie  means  to  an  end — the 
development  and  culture,  the  harmonization  and 
refinement,  the  vigor  and  power  of  all  the  attri- 
butes of  man,  the  happiness  of  the  individual  in 
the  welfare  of  the  whole. 

In  regard  to  public  enterprises  and  the  ability 
of  the  people  to  operate  them  by  government 
agency,  let  the  canal  system  of  New  York,  that 
brings  annually  a  net  income  of  millions  to  the 
State,  be  the  answer.  Our  postal  system,  with 
its  vast  ramifications  and  its  complicated  opera- 


258  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC. 

tions,  is  so  familiar  that  it  is  overlooked.  So 
necessary  has  it  become  that  all  enterprises, 
public  and  private,  would  be  so  crippled  that 
business  would  soon  cease. 

The  difference  between  what  is  and  what 
would  be  if  all  the  appliances  man  is  capable  of 
bringing  to  bear  on  the-  welfare  of  society,  is  in- 
conceivable. Not  without  too  much  elaboration, 
is  it  possible  to  notice  some  of  the  benefits  that 
would  accrue  from  the  i*elegation  of  the  powers 
and  privileges  of  private  corporations  to  those  of 
a  public  character.  The  people  would  demand 
a  volume  of  currency  equal  to  the  demand  of 
trade  and  industry;  then  time-transactions  of 
debts  and  credits  would  no  longer  exist.  This 
in  itself  would  bring  about  a  change  in  public 
affairs  more  marked  than  one  in  a  thousand  can 
conceive.  It  would  overthrow  the  credit  system, 
by  which  so  many  billions  of  dollars  are  taken 
from  labor.  A  vast  army  of  lawyers  who  now 
flourish  and  fatten  would  be  compelled  to  look 
elsewhere  for  support.  A  multitude  of  jurors 
and  witnesses  would  be  released  from  service. 
An  immense  and  complicated  system  of  govern^ 
ment  machinery  would  be  dispensed  with,  and 
justice  would  be  meted  out  to  the  people.  All 
public  service  would  be  done  at  a  reasonable 
cost,  and  wealth  would  flow  in  to  the  producer, 


CORPORATIONS.  259 

who  would  have  the  tune,  opportunity,  means, 
and  disposition  to  apply  it  to  the  higiiest  and 
best  uses.  The  time  for  labor  would  be  abridged, 
and  the  curse  of  poverty,  like  a  darkening  mist, 
would  disappear  before  the  light  of  a  higher 
intelligence.  The  social  forces  that  now  are 
expended  in  strife  and  contention  would  be 
employed  in  building  up,  refining,  and  harmon- 
izing the  social  fabric. 

The  following  clear  and  forcible  presentation 
is  from  the  pen  of  Henry  George,  author  of 
"  Progress  and  Poverty  "  : 

"The  growth  of  morality  consequent  upon  the 
cessation  of  want  would  tend  to  a  like  diminution 
in  other  civil  business  of  the  courts,  which  could  be 
hastened  by  the  adoption  of  the  common-sense 
proposition  of  Bentham  to  abolish  all  laws  for  the 
collection  of  debts  and  the  enforcement  of  private 
contracts.  The  rise  of  wages,  the  opening  of  op- 
])ortunities  for  all  to  make  an  easy  and  comfortable 
living,  would  at  once  lessen,  and  would  soon  elim- 
inate from  society  the  thieves,  swindlers,  and  other 
classes  of  criminals,  who  spring  from  the  unequal 
distribution  of  wealth.  Thus  the  administration  of 
tlie  criminal  law,  with  all  its  paraphernalia  of  police- 
men, detectives,  prisons,  and  penitentiaries,  would, 
like  the  administration  of  the  civil  law,  cease  to 
make  such  a  drain  upon  the  vital  force  and  atten- 
tion of  society.  We  should  get  rid,  not  only  of 
many  judges,  bailiffs,  clerks,  and  prison-keepers, 
but  of  the  great  host  of  lawyers  who  are  now  main- 
tained at  the  expense  of  producers  ;  and  talent  now 


260  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC.  * 

wasted  in  legal  subtleties  would  be  turned  to  higher 
pursuits. 

"The  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  func- 
tions of  government  would  in  this  way  be  vasily 
simplified ;  nor  can  I  think  that  the  public  debts 
and  the  standing  armies,  which  are  historically  the 
outgrowth  of  the  change  from  feudal  to  allodial 
tenures,  would  long  remain  after  the  reversion  to 
the  old  idea  that  the  land  of  a  country  is  the  com- 
mon right  of  the  people  of  the  country 

"  Society  would  thus  approach  the  ideal  of  Jef- 
fei'sonian  democracy,  the  promised  land  of  Herbert 
Spencer,  the  abolition  of  government ;  but  of  gov- 
ernment only  as  a  directing  and  repressive  power. 
It  would  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  degree 
become  possible  for  it  to  realize  the  dream  of  social- 
ism. All  this  simplification  and  abrogation  of  the 
present  functions  of  government  would  m.ake  j^os- 
sible  the  assumption  of  certain  other  functions 
which  are  now  pressing  for  recognition, 

"  Government  could  take  upon  itself  the  trans- 
mission of  messages  by  telegraph  as  well  as  by 
mail,  of  building  and  operating  railroads  as  well  as 
of  oj^ening  and  maintaining  common  roads.  VV^ith 
present  functions  so  simplified  and  reduced,  func- 
tions such  as  could  be  assumed  without  danger  or 
strain,  and  would  be  under  the  supervision  of  pub- 
lic attention,  which  is  now  distracted 

"  We  might  not  establish  j^ublic  tables — they 
would  be  unnecessary  ;  but  we  could  establish  pub- 
lic baths,  museums,  libraries,  gardens,  lecture-rooms, 
music  and  dancing  halls,  theatei's,  universities,  tech- 
nical schools,  shooting  galleries,  play-grounds,  gym- 
nasiums, etc. 

"  Heat,  light,  and  motive  power,  as  well  as  water, 
might  be  conducted  through  our  streets  at  public 


CORPORATIONS.  261 

expense;  our  roads  be  lined  with  fruit  trees,  dis- 
coverers and  inventors  rewarded,  scientific  investi- 
gations supported,  and  in  a  thousand  ways  the 
public  revenues  made  to  foster  efforts  for  the  pub- 
lic benefit. 

"  We  should  reach  the  ideal  of  the  socialist,  but 
not  through  government  repression.  Government 
would  change  its  character,  and  would  become  the 
administration  of  a  great  co-operative  society.  It 
would  become  merely  the  agency  by  which  the 
common  property  was  administered  for  the  com- 
mon benefit. 

"  Does  this  seem  impracticable  ?  Consider  for  a 
moment  the  vast  changes  that  would  be  wrought  in 
social  life  by  a  change  which  would  assure  to  labor 
its  full  reward  ;  which  would  banish  want  and  the 
fear  of  waut,  and  give  to  the  humblest  freedom  to 
develop  in  natural  symmetry. 

"  In  thinking  of  the  possibilities  of  social  organi- 
zation, we  are  apt  to  assume  that  greed  is  the 
strongest  of  human  motives,  and  that  systems  of 
administration  can  only  be  safely  based  upon  the 
idea  that  the  fear  of  punishment  is  necessary  to 
keep  men  honest,  that  selfish  interests  are  always 
stronger  than  general  interests.  Nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  truth. 

"  From  whence  springs  this  lust  for  gain,  to  grat- 
ify which  men  tread  everything  pure  and  noble 
under  their  feet ;  to  which  they  sacrifice  all  the 
higher  possibilities  of  life ;  which  converts  civility 
into  a  hollow  pretense,  patriotism  into  a  sham^  and 
religion  into  hyprocrisy ;  which  makes  so  much  of 
civilized  existence  an  Ishmaelitish  Warfare,  of  which 
the  weapons  are  cunning  and  fraud? 

"  Does  it  not  spring  from  the  existence  of  want? 
....   Poverty    is   the    open-mouthed,    relentless 


262  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

hell,  which  yawns  beneath  civilized    society.     And 

it  is   hell   enough For  poverty   is   not 

merely  deprivation  :  it  means  shame,  degradation, 
the  searing  of  the  most  sensitive  parts  of  our  moral 
and  mental  nature  as  with  hot  irons  ;  the  denial  of 
the  strongest  impulses  and  the  sweetest  affections  ; 
the  wrenching  of  the  most  vital  nerves. 

"  You  love  your  wife,  you  love  your  children ;  but 
would  it  not  be  easier  to  see  them  die  than  to  see 
them  reduced  to  the  pinch  of  want,  in  which  large 
classes  in  every  highly  civilized  community  live  ? 
The  strongest  of  animal  passions  is  that  with  which 
we  cling  to  life ;  but  it  is  an  every-day  occurrence 
in  civilized  societies  for  men  to  put  poison  to  thejr 
mouths  or  pistols  to  their  heads  from  fear  of  pov- 
erty ;  and  for  one  who  does  this  there  are  probably 
a  hundred  who  have  the  desire,  but  are  restrained 
by  instinctive  shrinking,  by  religious  considerations, 
or  by  family  ties. 

"  From  this  hell  of  poverty  it  is  but  natural  that 
men  should  make  every  effort  to  escape.  With  the 
impulse  to  self-jjreservation  and  self-gratification 
combine  nobler  feelings,  and  love  as  well  as  fear 
urges  in  the  struggle.  Many  a  man  does  a  mean 
thing,  a  dishonest  thing,  a  greedy  and  a  grasping  and 
unjust  thing,  in  the  effort  to  place  above  want  or 
the  fear  of  want  mother  or  Avife  or  children 

"  How  sweet  to  the  storm-stricken  seems  the  safe 
harbor,  food  to  the  hungry,  drink  to  the  thirsty, 
warmth  to  the  shivering,  rest  to  the  weary,  power 
to  the  weak,  knowledge  to  him  in  whom  the  intel- 
lectual yearnings  of  the  soul  have  been  aroused  ! 

"  And  thus  the  sting  of  want  and  the  fear  of  want 
make  men  admire  above  all  things  the  possession  of 
riches,  and  to  become  wealthy  is  to  become  respect- 
ed   and   admired    and    influential.     Get   money — 


CORPORATIONS.  263 

honestly  if  you  can,  but  at  any  rate,  get  money. 
This  is  the  lesson  that  society  is  daily  and  hourly 
dinning  in  the  ears  of  its  members.  Men  instinct- 
ively admire  virtue  and  truth,  but  the  sting  of 
want  and  the  fear  of  want  make  them  even  more 
strongly  admire  the  rich  and  sympathize  with  the 
fortunate.  It  is  well  to  be  honest  and  just,  and 
men  will  commend  it;  but  he  who  by  fraud  and  in- 
justice gets  him  a  million  dollars  will  have  more 
respect  and  admiration  and  influence,  more  eye- 
service  and  lip-service,  if  not  heart-service,  than  he 
who  refuses  it 

"  Whatever  is  potent  for  evil  may  be  made  potent 
for  good.  The  change  I  have  proposed  would  de- 
stroy the  conditions  that  distort  impulses  in  them- 
selves beneficent,  and  would  transmute  the  forces 
that  r  )W  tend  to  disintegrate  society  into  forces 
which  would  tend  to  unite  and  purify  it. 

"  Give  labor  a  free  field  and  its  full  earnings,  take 
for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  community  that  fund 
which  the  growth  of  the  community  creates,  and 
want  and  the  fear  of  want  would  be  gone.  The 
springs  of  production  would  be  set  free,  and  the 
enormous  increase  of  wealth  would  give  the  poorest 
ample  comfort.  Men  would  no  more  worry  about 
finding  employment  than  they  worry  about  finding 
air  to  breathe  ;  they  need  have*  no  more  care  about 
physical  necessities  than  do  the  lilies  of  the  field, 
Tlie  progress  of  science,  the  march  of  invention,  the 
difiusion  of  knowledge,  would  bring  their  benefits 
to  all. 

"  With  this  abolition  of  want  and  the  fear  of  want, 
the  admiration  of  riches  would  decay,  and  men  would 
seek  the  respect  and  approbation  of  their  fellows  in 
other  modes  than  by  the  acquisition  and  display  of 
wealth.     In  this  way  there  would  be  brought  to  the 


2G4  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

managemeut  of  public  affairs  and  tht  administration 
of  common  funds  the  skill,  the  attention,  the  fidel- 
ity and  integrity  that  can  now  only  be  secured  for 
private  interests;  and  a  railroad  oi'  gas-works  might 
be  operated  on  public  account,  not  only  more  econ- 
nomically  and  efficiently  than  as  at  present  under 
joint-stock  management,  but  as  economically  and 
efficiently  as  would  be  possible  under  a  single  owner- 
ship  

"There  are  people  into  whose  heads  it  never 
enters  to  conceive  of  any  better  state  of  society 
tiian  that  which  now  exists ;  who  imagine  that  the 
idea  that  there  could  be  a  state  of  society  in  which 
greed  would  be  banished,  prisons  stand  empty,  in- 
dividual interests  be  subordinated  to  general  inter- 
ests, and  no  one  seek  to  rob  or  to  oppress  his  neigh- 
bor, is  but  the  dream  of  impracticable  dreameis,  for 
whom  these  practical,  level-headed  men  who  pride 
themselves  on  recognizing  facts  as  they  are  have  a 
hearty  contempt.  But  such  men — though  some  of 
them  write  books,  and  some  of  them  occupy  the 
chairs  of  universities,  and  some  of  them  stand  in 
the  pulpit — do  not  think.  If  they  wei-e  accustomed 
to  dine  in  such  eating-houses  as  are  to  be  found  in 
the  lower  quarters  of  London  and  Paris,  where  the 
knives  and  forks  are  chained  to  the  table,  they 
would  deem  it  the  natural,  ineradicable  disposition 
of  man  to  carry  off  the  knife  and  fork  with  which 
he  has  eaten. 

"  Take  a  cumpany  of  well-bred  men  and  women 
dining  together  :  there  is  no  struggling  fur  food,  no 
attempt  on  the  part  of  anyone  to  get  more  than  his 
neighbor,  no  attempt  to  gorge  or  carry  off.  On  the 
contrary,  each  one  is  anxious  to  help  his  neighbor 
before  he  partakes  himself ;  to  offer  to  others  the 
best,  rather  than  pick  it  out  for  himself;  and  should 


COKPORATIONS.  265 

any  one  show  the  slightest  disj^osition  to  prefer  the 
gratification  of  his  own  appetite  to  that  of  the 
others,  or  in  any  way  to  act  the  pig  or  pilferer,  the 
swift  and  heavy  penalty  of  social  contempt  and 
ostracism  would  show  how  such  conduct  is  repro- 
bated by  common  opinion.  All  this  is  so  common 
as  to  excite  no  remark;  as  to  seem  the  natural 
state  of  things  :  yet  it  is  no  more  natural  that  men 
should  not  be  greedy  of  food  than  that  they  should 
not  be  greedy  of  wealth.  They  are,  greedy  of  food 
when  they  are  not  assui-ed  that  there  will  be  a  fair 
and  equitable  distribution  which  will  give  to  each 
enough.  But  when  these  conditions  are  assured, 
they  cease  to  be  greedy  of  food.  And  so  in  society 
as  at  present  constituted  :  men  are  greedy  of  wealth 
because  the  conditions  of  distribution  are  so  unjust 
that  instead  of  each  being  sure  of  enough,  many 
are  certain  to  be  condemned  to  want.  It  is  'the 
Devil  catch  the  hindmost'  of  present  social  adjust- 
ment that  causes  the  race  and  scramble  for  wealth, 
in  which  all  considerations  of  justice,  mercy,  relig- 
ion, and  sentiment  are  trampled  under  foot ;  in 
which  men  forget  their  own  souls,  and  struggle  to 
the  very  \%v^q  of  the  grave  for  what  they  cannot 
take  beyond.  But  an  equitable  distribution  of 
wealth,  that  would  exempt  all  from  the  fear  of 
want,  would  destroy  the  greed  of  wealth,  just  as 
in  polite  society  the  greed  of  food  has  been  de- 
stroyed  

"  But  it  may  be  said,  to  banish  want  and  the  fear 
of  want  Avould  be  to  destroy  the  stimulus  to  exer- 
tion ;  men  would  become  simply  idlers,  and  such  a 
happy  state  of  general  comfort  and  content  would 
be  the  death  of  progress.  This  is  the  old  slave- 
holders' argument — that  men  can  only  be  driven 
to  labor    with  the  lash.      Nothing  is  more  untrue. 

12 


266  THE   NEW- REPUBLIC. 

Want  might  be  banished,  but  desire  would  remain. 
Man  is  the  unsatisfied  animal.  He  has  but  begun 
to  explore,  and  the  universe  lies  before  him.  Each 
step  that  he  takes  opens  new  vistas  and  kindles 
new  desires.  He  is  the  constructive  animal ;  he 
builds,  he  improves,  he  invents,  and  puts  together; 
and  the  greater  the  thing  he  does,  the  greater  the 
thing  he  wants  to  do.  He  is  more  than  an  animal. 
Whatever  be  the  intelligence  that  breathes  through 
nature,  it  is  in  that  likeness  that  man  is  made. 
The  steamship  driven  by  her  throbbing  engines 
through  the  seas  is  in  kind,  though  not  in  degree, 
as  much  a  creation  as  the  whale  that  swims  beneath. 
The  telescope  and  the  microscope — what  are  they 
but  added  eyes  which  man  has  made  for  himself  ? 
The  soft  webs  and  fair  colors  in  which  our  women 
array  themselves — do  they  not  answer  to  the  plum- 
age that  nature  gives  the  bird?  Man  must  be 
doing  something,  or  fancy  that  he  is  doing  some- 
thing ;  for  in  him  throbs  creative  impulse ;  the 
mere  basker  in  the  sunshine  is  not  a  natural  but  an 
abnormal  man." — (pp.  408-419.) 

We  could  not  forbear  this  long  quotation  from 
Mr.  George's  book.  It  is  so  applicable  to  our 
case,  and  so  vivid  in  description  of  the  present 
and  prospective  condition  of  man  !  The  objection 
that  to  banish  want  and  the  fear  of  want  would 
destroy  the  stimulus  for  exertion  is  farther  an- 
swered by  stating  the  fact  that  many  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  active  minds  have  been  of  those  who 
were  placed  beyond  want.  In  fact,  the  freer  from 
this  dread  incubus,  the  stronger  is  the  impulse 


CORPORATIONS.  267 

to  higher  and  nobler  modes  of  life.  The  present 
disparity  of  social  conditions — the  struggle  with 
poverty  on  the  one  hand  and  the  inordinate  and 
unjust  accumulation  of  wealth  on  the  other — tends 
to  destroy  those  higher  aspirations  that  better 
conditions  would  prompt.  Avarice  is  the  inspir- 
ing genius;  it  corrupts  the  social  fountain;  it 
turns  the  channel  of  thought  and  feeling  from 
the  higher  impulses  that  are  slumbering  in  the 
soul. 

In  our  government,  corporations  are  the  means 
by  which  these  conditions  of  extreme  wealth  and 
extreme  poverty  exist — conditions  fatal  to  the 
prosperity  and  hapjiiness  of  the  people.  The  fear 
of  want  that  characterizes  the  "  uneasy  class  " — 
those  occupying  a  middle  ground  but  with  a 
downward  tendency — disqualifies  them  for  better 
impulses  and  higher  aspirations. 

Corporations  for  individual  aggrandizement 
must  give  way  to  cooperative  enterprises ;  and 
measures  for  the  public  good  must  be  carried  on 
for  the  equal  benefit  of  all.  Justice  is  thus  made 
possible,  and  equality  established — conditions  ab- 
solutely essential  to  a  true  republic. 


268  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

QUALIFICATIOX   FOR    CITIZENSHIP. 

'  A  weapon  that  comes  down  so  still 

As  snow-flakes  fall  upon  the  sod, 
But  executes  a  freeman's  will, 

As  lightning  does  the  will  of  God ; 
And  from  its  force  nor  doors  nor  locks 

Can  shield  you  :  'tis  the  ballot-box." 

Rights  enjoyed  imply  duties  to  be  performed. 
Such  are  the  demands  of  life.  The  bahince  of 
privilege  and  responsibility,  of  service  and  re- 
ward, is  the  constant  requirement  of  justice. 

The  eventful  march  of  human  progress  carries 
along  with  it  the  service  to  be  rendered  as  well 
us  the  privileges  to  be  enjoyed ;  the  one  is  as 
essential  as  the  other  is  valuable. 

Among  the  most  important  duties  the  citizens 
of  a  republic  are  required  to  perform  are : 

1.  Acquiring  the  necessary  qualification.  A 
clear  conception  of  the  principles  upon  which  a 
free  government  is  founded,  the  relations  its  citi- 
zens hold  to  it  and  to  each  other,  are  the  first 
considerations. 

Experience  as  well  as  reason  demonstrates  the 
fact  that  due  qualification  for  any  work  is  a 
necessity ;    but  in  matters   of   government  this 


QUAHFICATIOX   FOR    CITIZENSHIP.        269 

seems  to  be  overlooked.  Reliance  upon  authority 
and  blind  confidence  in  those  who  are  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  it,  intensified  by  political  bias  and  party 
zeal,  without  the  "  eternal  vigilance "  so  ear- 
nestly recommended  by  that  great  apostle  of 
human  liberty,  Thomas  Jefferson,  are  fatal  de- 
fects in  the  qualification  for  citizenship.  Taking 
advantage  of  these,  designing  and  ambitious  men, 
selected  not  for  their  qualification  but  for  their 
availability,  are  thrust  upon  the  people — not 
chosen  by  them — to  carry  out  the  schemes  for 
securing  wealth  and  dominion.  It  is  clearly  the 
duty  of  citizens  to  protect  themselves  from  such 
imposition  ;  therefore,  such  a  system  of  educa- 
tion as  will  develop  a  knowledge  of  the  principles 
of  a  true  republic  is  the  pressing  and  imperative 
requirement. 

Whatever  the  character  of  the  government 
may  be,  the  governed  must  abide  by  it ;  and 
the  question  here  is,  What  shall  be  the  character 
of  the  governed?  For  in  a  republic  they  ai'e  the 
governors.  This  is  so  evident  that  it  requires 
nothing  but  the  bare  statement  to  brino^  it  home 
to  every  intelligent  mind.  Are  they  self-reliant, 
and  sufficiently  independent  of  political  tricksters ; 
of  the  influence  of  party  "  fealty  ";  of  the  tyranny 
of  capital ;  free  from  the  debasing  influences  of 
vice  ?     It  is  the  aim  and  plan  of  the  politicians 


270  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC. 

and  their  masters  to  mystify,  to  distract  and 
weaken,  to  demoralize,  to  create  distrust  and 
destroy  confidence.  The  ignorant  man  is  the 
weak  man.  He  is  the  most  easily  led  to  believe 
he  is  wise,  and  therefore  the  most  easily  hood- 
winked. His  prejudices  are  aroused ;  he  im- 
agines them  to  be  sound  principles  ;  party  spirit  is 
awakened  forthwith  ;  in  his  estimation  he  be- 
comes a  patriot.  He  mistakes  sophistry  for 
reason,  and  vehement  declamation  for  profound 
wisdom.  He  is  alike  the  sport  and  the  victim  of 
political  jugglery.  No  one  is  capable  of  being 
deceived,  but  there  stands  ready  a  deceiver  ;  no 
one  in  a  condition  to  be  robbed,  but  there  stands 
ready  a  robber. 

Jefferson's  test  of  the  qualification  for  office  is 
equally  applicable  to  the  citizen :  "  Is  he  capable? 
Is  he  honest  ?  "  The  science  of  political  economy 
should  be  regularly  and  thoroughly  taught;  not 
the  theories  found  in  the  writings  of  the  subjects 
of  kings,  and  servilely  imitated  by  writers  who 
profess  to  live  under  a  republican  government ; 
into  whose  heads  the  idea  of  the  true  source  of 
power  never  enters;  who  take  for  granted  the 
complicated  and  mystified  theories  of  English 
finance,  the  oppressive  and  wicked  system  of  land 
tenures,  and  thus  establishing  and  firmly  rooting 
the  idea  of  the  justice  of  land  monopoly,  a  dual 


QUALIFICATION   FOR   CITIZENSHIP.        271 

legislative  system  to  serve  the  interests  of  the 
"upper"  class,  and  a  judiciary  system  relegat- 
ing the  administration  of  justice  to  a  class  of 
special  experts,  thus  creating  not  only  a  vast 
source  of  income,  but  the  greater  evil  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  political  power — evils  f asrtened  upon  the 
people  by  foreign  political  economists  and  jurists. 

The  structure  of  republican  govei-nment  is  es- 
sentially different  from  that  of  monarchical ;  as 
different  as  the  source  of  power  is  different, 
which  requires  as  much  difference  in  principle 
as  there  is  in  source  of  power ;  and  an  attempt  to 
teach  republicanism  on  monarchical  principles  is 
as  futile  as  the  attempt  to  teach  morals  by  the 
code  of  the  highwayman. 

There  can  be  no  proposition  plainer  than  to  be 
able  to  do  anything  successfully  there  must  be  a 
qualification  for  the  work.  The  true  principles 
of  a  republican  government  have  never  yet  come 
to  the  public  mind,  much  less  been  systematically 
taught.  Every  citizen  should  master  them — must 
master  them ;  not  the  mass  of  I'ubbish  found  in 
the  musty  tomes  of  English  jurisprudence  and 
political  economy,  but  the  principles  of  justice  in 
the  recognition  of  the  equality  of  natural  rights 
and  their  benefits  to  be  enjoyed  by  all;  the  just 
and  equal  distribution  of  wealth  by  which  each 
producer  may  hold  and  enjoy  his  own  ;  the  meth- 


272  THE    NEW    RErUBLIC. 

ods  of  building,  equipping,  and  operating  lines 
of  travel,  transportation,  and  intelligence  upon  a 
system  of  actual  cost  ;  a  method  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  by  ready  and  simple  means, 
and  by  which  emancipation  from  the  control  of 
lawyers  and  judges,  who  now  operate  by  the 
complicated  intricacies  of  theories  that  have  been 
accumulating  for  ages. 

The  elements  necessary  to  be  understood  are 
not  complicated  and  massive  beyond  the  compre- 
hension of  ordinary  capacity  when  developed ; 
otherwise,  there  is  no  possibility  of  self-govern- 
ment: in  which  case,  here  ends  the  whole  matter. 

The  truth  is,  we  are  and  have  been  under  the 
tuition  of  English  political  economists  and  jurists, 
who  have  fastened  their  systems  upon  us,  and, 
as  like  causes  produce  like  effects,  our  political 
and  industrial  condition  resembles  that  of  its 
prototype  as  nearly  as  modifying  influences  will 
allow. 

2.  An  appreciation  of  the  natural  rights  upon 
which  a  true  republic  is  founded. 

Experience  and  observation  show  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  people  under  the  present  system  of 
government  to  an  appreciation  of  the  priceless 
value  of  the  natural  rights  endowed  upon  them 
by  their  Creator. 

After  a  hundred  years  of  failure  to  secure  their 


QUALIFICATION   FOR    CITIZEXSHIP.        273 

just  exercise,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  people  are 
discouraged,  demoralized  ?  Under  the  false  and 
pernicious  system  of  competitive  industry,  where 
every  man's  hand  is  against  his  neighbor's,  where 
want  and  poverty,  and  the  suffering  and  disgrace 
attending  them,  have  been  so  long  in  operation,  is 
it  any  wonder  that  greed  and  avarice  have  be- 
come the  ruling  forces  of  society  ?  The  appreci- 
ation of  justice  and  the  idea  of  its  rule  in  the 
affairs  of  life  are  not  looked  for  in  this  age  of 
greed  and  selfishness.  Justice  is  the  equilibrium 
of  values,  and  its  blessings  are  realized  just  in 
proportion  to  the  general  intelligence  and  virtue 
of  the  people ;  and  a  government  is  good  just  in 
proportion  to  the  degree  of  justice  exercised  in  it. 
Selfishness  is  the  great  antagonist  of  justice,  and 
governments  are  the  instrumentalities  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  one,  in  despotism  and  slavery  by  the 
ignorance  and  moral  obliquity  of  the  governed, 
or  in  liberty,  equality,  and  happiness  by  the  in- 
telligence and  virtue  of  the  governed. 

Truth  is  the  torch  that  lights  to  the  domain  of 
justice ;  error  always  leads  astray  into  the  des- 
potism of  selfishness.  Truth  is  the  child  of 
knowledge  ;  error,  that  of  ignorance.  "  He  whom 
the  truth  makes  free  is  free  indeed,"  and  in  the  en- 
joyment of  its  innumerable  blessings  ;  but  he  who 
flounders  in  the  sea  of  error  is  carried  on  its 
12* 


274  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC. 

darksome  waves  into  the  tlomaln  of  poverty,  de- 
gradation, misery,  and  ruin. 

Intelligence  comes  to  us  only  by  hard  and  per- 
sistent effort,  and  well  it  is  that  it  does,  or  we 
would  sink  into  intellectual  and  moral  inanition. 
The  effort  required  to  develop  the  intellectual 
and  moral  powers  yields  a  double  blessing ;  with 
the  developement  by  acquisition  comes  the  ca- 
pacity for  gratification  that  activity  affords. 

The  legitimate  pursuit  of  all  thought  is  truth  ; 
the  inevitable  result  of  ignorance  is  error. 
Truth  builds  up  and  preserves,  and  carries  us 
upward  and  onward  to  illimitable  heights  of 
grandeur  and  glory ;  error  arrests  and  turns  us 
backward  into  barrenness  and  gloom  :  the  one 
gives  light  and  joy,  the  other  darkness  and  mis- 
ery. Truth  comes  as  the  fruit  of  effort  and  in- 
dustry ;  error  of  ignorance  and  misguided  zeal : 
the  one  is  the  spirit  of  right,  the  other  the  ghost 
of  wrong.  The  inseparable  companion  of  truth 
is  love  ;  that  of  error  is  passion.  In  a  political 
sense,  error  is  terrible  to  contemplate.  Its  off- 
spring are  hate,  intolerance,  pride,  egotism,  big- 
otry, superstition,  greed,  oppression.  It  gave  the 
poison  to  Socrates  ;  it  nailed  the  gentle  Nazarene 
upon  the  cross;  it  imprisoned  Copernicus;  it 
manacled  the  hands  of  Galileo,  and  laid  the  in- 
junction of  silence  upon  his  lips  for  uttering   a 


QUALIFICATION    FOR    CITIZENSHIP.         275 

great  and  Immortal  truth ;  it  murdered  the  inno- 
cent victims  of  alleged  witchcraft  ;  it  decapi- 
tated Charles  I.  of  England,  and  then  tore  open 
the  grave  of  his  destroyer,  Cromwell,  snatched 
his  body  from  it,  hung  it  upon  a  gibbet,  and  then 
quartered  it.  It  has  immolated  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  liberty  upon  its  altar,  and  covered 
the  seat  of  justice  with  the  robes  of  iniquity.  It 
antagonizes  fi-eedom  and  destroys  human  happi- 
ness. It  is  strongly  intrenched  in  the  citadel  of 
human  affection,  and  is  the  main  reliance  of 
tyrants.  Liberty  cannot  exist  where  error  reigns. 
With  keen  moral  perceptions  and  appreciation 
of  justice,  with  natural  rights  weighed  and  scaled 
up  to  their  full  value,  the  fruits  of  ignorance  and 
error — poverty,  slavery,  depravity,  crime,  and 
misery — would  not,  could  not,  exist.  We  now 
suffer  and  tolerate  these  evils  :  ought  not  this  to 
arouse  us  to  the  fact  that  moral  appreciation  is 
not  up  to  the  point  requisite  for  individual  free- 
dom and  happiness,  the  true  aim  of  popular 
government  ?  Ignorance  and  vice  are  insepara- 
ble in  the  administration  of  government.  Igno- 
rance converts  liberty  into  license,  and  vice 
panders  to  the  lowest  passions.  Ignorance  tol- 
erates wrong  because  it  cannot  comprehend  right, 
vice  supports  it  because  it  ministers  to  sensuality. 
"  We  must  educate  !     We   must    educate  !     Or 


276  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC. 

else  we  perish  !  "  said  an  American  writer  years 
ago.  The  truth  of  this  is  so  apparent  that  it 
needs  no  statement.  The  rapid  creation  of 
wealth,  without  the  corresponding  moral  culture, 
gives  impetus  and  force  to  the  rule  of  passion ; 
the  control  of  this  increased  wealth  by  a  few, 
without  due  qualification  in  the  many,  must  be 
disastrous  to  the  rule  of  justice  and  the  reign  of 
liberty. 

Intelligence  and  virtue  are  inseparable.  We 
do  not  appreciate  our  rights  because  we  do  not 
understand  them.  Who  is  able  to  measure  the 
value,  the  resources,  or  compass  the  limits  of 
power  that  slumber  in  the  human  soul?  "The 
human  mind,"  says  a  living  writer,  "  is  the  re- 
pository of  infinite  possibilities."  Accustomed 
to  toil  and  to  the  cruel  reign  of  greed  and  unhal- 
lowed ambition,  these  having  never  been  duly 
developed,  cannot  be  duly  appreciated. 

The  energy  of  the  toiler  has  been  expended  in 
the  struggle  with  poverty,  and  the  incessant 
haunting  of  the  fear  of  want,  and  the  forebodings 
of  misery  that  follow  in  its  train  have  prevented 
the  higher  and  nobler  attributes  of  the  soul  from 
being  called  out. 

Environments  create  conditions.  Because  we 
have  so  often  seen  the  suffering  and  torture  of 
anxiety  proceeding  from  poverty,  and  know  not 


QUALIFICATION   FOR    CITIZENSHIP.        277 

how  soon  we  may  become  its  victims,  we  have 
ixrown  cautious  and  selfish.  Everthinfj  that 
touches  our  pecuniary  interests  I'ender  us  ex- 
tremely solicitous.  AVe  give  an  intellectual 
assent  to  the  statements  of  history  and  the  deduc- 
tions of  science,  for  the  simple  reason  that  they 
do  not  perceptibly  affect  our  pockets. 

So  far  as  they  are  concerned,  the  nebula  hy- 
pothesis of  La  Place  may  be  true  or  not,  and  the 
results  of  the  ever-busy  woriiers  in  elaborating 
and  formulating  scientific  data  are  alike  indiffer- 
ent to  us,  because  we  see  no  direct  relation  be- 
tween them  and  our  purses.  So  we  do  not 
perceive  the  intimate  relations  between  and  the 
direct  dependence  on  all  that  makes  life  dear  and 
valuable,  a  just  and  true  government,  and  the 
welfare  and  happiness  of  the  people. 

We  are  ready  enough  to  resist  the  evils  that 
reach  our  doors,  without  an  appreciation  or  even 
a  laudable  effort  to  grasp  and  comprehend  the 
cause.  We  overlook  the  gigantic  wrong  and 
try  to  grapple  with  its  effects.  Unless  we  clearly 
perceive  the  underlying  cause  of  the  evils  from 
which  we  suffer,  we  will  never  make  an  effort  to 
remove  it.  That  cause  lies  in  an  unjustly  con- 
stituted government,  wherein  usurped  rights, 
not  natural  rights,  are  the  foundation.  The  abil- 
ity to   comprehend  that  wrong  basis    and  fully 


278  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

appreciate  the  right  one  are  indespen&able  quali- 
fications in  the  citizens  of  a  republic.  Justice 
is  its  constructive  principle,  liberty  its  temple, 
equality  its  condition,  and  the  free  exercise  of 
all  the  natural  rights  its  aim  and  consummation. 
The  power  to  conceive  and  appreciate  the  prin- 
ciples and  forces  that  constitute  a  I'epublic  are 
absolutely  necessary  to  its  existence.  This  must 
be  acquired.  The  immensity  of  its  importance 
cannot  be  expressed  or  even  estimated.  The  ap- 
plication of  this  power  to  the  purposes  of  gov- 
ernment is  the  highest  and  most  important  duty 
of  man.  A  well-constituted  government  is  the 
essential  condition  for  the  most  advanced  civili- 
zation, and  upon  which  it  must  depend.  What 
duty,  then,  so  imperative  ?  What  benefit  so  great  ? 
What  result  so  grand?  Would  the  curse  of  in- 
temperance, with  its  horrible  train  of  crime,  deg- 
radation, moral,  social,  domestic,  pliysical,  and 
financial  ruin,  be  tolerated  when  virtue  is  appre- 
ciated ?  AYould  we  behold  the  tears  and  hear 
the  cries  of  women  and  children  in  their  suffer- 
ings from  liunger  and  cold,  with  indifference, 
if  the  sense  of  justice  glowed  in  our  hearts? 
Would  corporate  power,  inspired  by  greed  and 
impelled  by  cupidity,  place  its  iron  heel  on  tlie 
neck  of  labor,  to  rob  and  enslave  it  without  a 
protest,  if  fraternal  love    beamed  in  our  souls  ? 


QUALIFICATIOX    FOR    CITIZEXSHIP.        279 

Would  the  tyrant  robber-chiefs  ti'ample  upon  the 
people's  rights,  while  we  look  on  in  slavish  fear, 
if  there  was  a  spark  of  the  love  of  liberty  glow- 
ing in  our  breasts  ?  Would  courts  be  bribed  and 
lobyists  flourish,  if  corruption  was  not  tolerated  ? 
Would  land  robbery,  money  swindling,  railroad 
extortion,  and  gambling  speculation  be  the  order 
and  the  rule  in  a  government  of  the  people,  for 
the  people,  by  the  people,  if  they  did  their  duty 
as  citizens  ? 

We  answ^er.  No !  There  is  no  question  in 
this  matter.  We  cannot  tolerate  wrong  when 
Ave  realize  it  and  know  the  remedy.  We  do  tol- 
erate it.  Our  duty  as  citizens  is  plain.  AVe 
must  not  expect  reward  without  earning  it.  The 
blessings  of  liberty  come  only  to  those  who 
achieve  liberty. 


280  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

NATURE  AND  USES  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

"  A  new  and  fair  division  of  the  goods  and  rights  of  this 
world  sliould  be  the  main  object  of  those  who  conduct  human 
affairs." — De  Tocqueville. 

"  Since  writers  have  so  confounded  society  with 
government  as  to  leave  little  or  no  distinction  be- 
tween them,  whereas,  they  are  not  only  different, 
but  have  different  origins  :  society  is  produced  by 
our  wants,  and  government  by  our  %oickedness  ;  the 
former  promotes  our  happiness ^os^■<^ye/y  by  uniting 
our  affections ,  the  latter  nefjatively  by  restraining 
our  vices.  The  one  encoui'ages  intercourse,  the 
other  creates  distinctions. 

•'  Society  in  every  state  is  a  blessing;  but  govern- 
ment, even  in  its  best  estate,  is  but  a  necessary  %\'A : 
in  its  worst,  an  intolerable  one;  for  when  we  suffer, 
or  are  exposed  to  the  same  miseries  by  a  govern- 
ment which  we  might  expect  in  a  country  without 
a  government,  our  calamity  is  heightened  by  re- 
flecting that  we  furnish  the  means  hy  which  we 
suffer. "^ 

"  Government,  like  dress,  is  the  badge  of  lost  inno- 
cence ;  the  palaces  of  kings  are  built  on  the  ruins  of 
the  bowers  of  Paradise.  For,  were  his  impulses  of 
conscience  clear,  uniform,  and  irresistibly  obeyed, 
man  would  need  no  other  law-giver;  but  that  not  be- 
ing the  case,  he  finds  it  necessary  to  render  up  a  part 

*  In  this  allusion  to  the  British  government,  how  striking 
the  analogy  between  it  and  our  own  ! 


NATURE  AND  USES  OF  GOVERNMENT.  281 

of  his  property  to  fuvuish  means  for  the  protection 
of  tlie  rest ;  and  this  he  is  induced  to  do  by  the  same 
prudence  which  in  every  other  case  advises  him  out 
of  two  evils  to  choose  the  least ;  wherefore,  secur- 
ity being  the  true  design  and  end  of  government, 
it  unanswerably  follows  that  whatever/b?7w  thereof 
appears  most  likely  to  insui-e  it  to  us  with  the  least 
expense  and  greatest  benefit  is  preferable  to  all 
others.  In  order  to  gain  a  clear  and  just  idea  of 
the  design  and  end  of  government,  let  us  suppose  a 
small  number  of  persons  settled  in  some  sequestered 
part  of  the  earth  unconnected  with  the  rest ;  they 
will  represent  the  first  j^eopling  of  any  country  or 
of  the  world.  In  this  state  of  natural  liberty  soci- 
ety will  be  their  first  thought,  a  thousand  motives 
will  excite  them  thereto  ;  the  strength  of  one  man 
is  so  unequal  to  his  wants,  and  his  mind  so  unfitted 
for  perpetual  solitude,  that  he  is  soon  obliged  to 
seek  assistance  and  relief  of  another,  who  in  his 
turn  requires  the  same.  Four  or  five  united  would 
be  able  to  raise  a  tolerable  dwelling  in  the  midst  of 
a  wilderness ;  but  one  man  might  labor  out  the  com- 
mon period  of  life  without  accomplishing  anything: 
when  he  had  felled  his  timber  he  could  not  remove 
it,  nor  erect  it  after  It  was  removed ;  hunger  in  the 
mean  time  would  urge  him  from  his  work,  and  every 
different  want  would  call  him  a  different  way. 
Disease — nay,  even  misfortune — would  be  death,  for 
though  neither  might  be  mortal,  yet  either  would 
disable  him  from  living,  and  reduce  him  to  a  state 
in  which  he  might  rather  be  said  to  perish  than 
to  die. 

"  Thus  necessity,  like  a  gravitating  power,  would 
soon  form  our  newly  arrived  emigrants  into  society ; 
the  reciprocal  blessings  of  which  would  supersede 
and  render  the  obligations  of  law  and  government 


282  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

unnecessary,  while  they  remained  perfectly  just  to 
each  other ;  but  as  nothing  but  heaven  is  impreg- 
nable to  vice,  it  will  unavoidably  happen  that  in 
proportion  as  they  surmount  the  first  difficulties  of 
emigration  which  bind  them  together  in  a  com- 
mon cause,  they  will  begin  to  relax  in  their  duty 
and  attachment,  and  this  remissness  will  point  out 
the  necessity  of  establishing  some  form  of  govern- 
ment to  supply  defect  of  moral  virtue. 

"  Some  convenient  tree  will  afford  them  a  state 
house,  under  the  branches  of  which  the  whole  col- 
ony may  assemble  to  deliberate  on  public  matters. 
It  is  more  than  probable  that  their  first  laws  will 
have  the  title  only  of  Regulations,  and  be  enforced 
by  no  other  penalty  than  public  disesteem.  In  this 
first  parliament  every  man,  by  natural  right,  will 
have  a  seat. 

"  But  as  the  colony  increases,  public  concerns  will 
increase  likewise,  and  the  distance  at  which  the 
members  may  be  separated  will  render  it  too  incon- 
venient for  all  of  them  to  meet  on  every  occasion  as 
at  first,  when  their  nuiaibor  was  small,  their  habita- 
tions near,  and  public  concerns  few  and  trifling. 

"This  will  point  out  the  convenience  of  their  con- 
senting to  leave  the  legislative  part  to  be  managed 
by  a  select  number  chosen  from  the  whole  body, 
who  are  supposed  to  have  the  same  concerns  at 
stake  which  those  have  who  appoint  them,  and  who 
will  act  in  the  same  manner  as  the  whole  body 
would  were  they  present.  If  the  colony  continue 
increasing,  it  will  become  necessary  to  augment  the 
number  of  representatives;  and  that  the  interest  of 
every  part  of  the  colony  may  be  attended  to,  it  will 
be  found  best  to  divide  the  whole  into  convenient 
parts,  each  part  sending  its  proper  number ;  and  that 
the  elected  might  never  form  to  themselves  an  inter- 


NATURE   AND    USES    OF   GOVERNMENT.     283 

est  seperate  from  the  electors,  prudence  will  point 
out  the  propriety  of  having  elections  often ;  because 
as  the  elected  might  by  that  means  return  and  mix 
again  with  the  general  body  of  the  electors,  in  a  few 
months  their  fidelity  to  the  pnblic  will  be  secured 
by  the  prudent  reiiection  of  not  making  a  rod  for 
themselves.  And  as  this  frequent  interchange  will 
establish  a  common  interest  with  every  part  of  the 
community,  they  will  mutually  and  naturally  sup- 
port each  other,  and  on  this  depends  the  strength  of 
government,  and  the  happiness  of  the  governed. 

"  Here,  then,  is  the  origin  and  rise  of  government, 
namely,  a  mode  rendered  necessary  by  the  inability 
of  moral  virtue  to  govern  the  world ;  here,  too,  is 
the  design  and  end  of  government,  viz.,  freedom  and 
security.  And  however  our  eyes  may  be  dazzled 
with  the  show  or  our  ears  deceived  by  sound,  how- 
ever i^rejudice  may  warp  our  wills  or  interest  dark- 
en our  understanding,  the  simple  virtue  of  nature 
and  reason  will  say  it  is  right. 

"  I  draw  my  idea  of  government  from  a  principle 
in  nature  which  no  art  can  overturn ;  viz.,  that  the 
more  simiDle  anything  is,  the  less  liable  it  is  to  be 
disordered,  and  the  more  easily  repaired  when  dis- 
ordered.''— Paine's  Rights  of  Man. 

The  aim  and  intent  of  a  republic  is  the  regula- 
tion and  protection  of  the  people  in  the  free  and 
full  exercise  of  their  natural  and  inalienable 
rights.  The  necessity  of  government  arises  from 
the  clashing  of  selfish  interests;  the  •power  of 
government  is  commensurate  with  the  needs  and 
wants  of  man  ;  and  the  character  of  government 
will  correspond  with  the  cluiracter  of  the  people 


284  THE    JsEW    KEPUBLIC. 

composing  It.  The  foundation  of  republican 
government  is  the  natural  rights  of  man  and  his 
common  interests.  The  'principles  of  a  republi- 
can government  consist  in  a  free  and  voluntary 
compact  by  which  the  units  form  an  aggregate, 
each  maintaining  his  personal  sovereignty  ;  with 
a  mutual  agreement  to  abide  by  and  conform  to 
certain  prescriptions  for  mutual  benefit  and  safe- 
ty ;  with  constitutional  provisions  for  organi- 
zation, in  which  are  specified  the  sovereign 
functions  of  government  and  provisions  for  ex- 
ercising them ;  provisions  for  electing  some  of 
their  own  number,  and  delegating  power  to  act 
within  certain  prescribed  limits;  being  a  volun- 
tary national  association,  recognizing  their  nat- 
ural rights  and  organizing  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  securing  their  exercise  and  enjoyment. 

Such  government  retains  the  power  in  the 
people ;  it  serves  the  highest  purposes  of  gov- 
ernment, and  lays  a  foundation  lasting  as  long  as 
the  necessity  for  government  exists. 

It  is  the  most  advanced  plan  of  government, 
founded  on  the  recognition  of  the  individual 
rights  of  property 

How  far  these  principles  are  to  be  carried  out 
depends  on  the  people  composing  it.  * 

Its  embodiment  of  principles  and  structure  are 
prescribed  and  formulated  in  a  constitution.    This 


NATUKE    AND    USES    OF    GOVERNMENT.     285 

is  not  tlie  work  of  the  government,  but  of  the 
people ;  it  is  the  formation  of  the  government. 

It  defines  and  formulates  the  natural  rights  of 
the  citizens. 

It  creates  and  establishes  legislative  and  exec- 
utive powers,  prescribes  a  method  of  electing 
representatives,  and  determines  their  term  of 
service  and  compensation  therefor. 

It  defines  the  sovereign  functions  of  govern- 
ment, and  provides  measures  for  their  perform- 
ance. 

It  provides  for  self-defense  and  relations  with 
other  governments  ;  for  revenue  and  public  en- 
terprises. 

It  secures  to  all  its  citizens  equal  rights,  privi- 
leges, and  opportunities. 

It  ])rovides  for  schools  of  necessary  kinds  and 
their  support,  and  due  quajification  for  citizen- 
ship. 

It  creates  modes  for  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice and  the  disposition  and  treatment  of  criminals ; 
for  the  preservation  of  health,  and  protection  from 
the  allurements  of  debasing;  and  dcf^radino;  vices. 

It  secures  freedom  of  opinion  on  all  subjects, 
and  freedom  of  speech  and  assemblage. 

All  its  institutions  arc  public  corporations:  its 
postal  system,  its  telegraph  and  other  lines  of 
communication,  its  transportation  and  travel,  its 


286  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

education  and  bureaus  for  information,  are  estab- 
lished and  conducted  by  government.  Individual 
rights,  privileges,  and  opportunities  are  equal,  and 
all  duties  equally  required  and  all  burdens  equal- 
ly borne  in  proportion  to  their  ability.  Compen- 
sation for  public  service  should  be  no  inducement 
for  being  sought.  For  when  extraordinaiy  power 
and  extraordinary  pay  are  conferred  upon  any 
individual  in  government,  he  becomes  the  center 
around  which  every  kind  of  corruption  generates 
and  forms.  Give  any  man  a  very  large  official 
salary,  and  add  thereto  the  power  of  disposing  of 
places  at  the  expense  of  the  government,  and  of- 
fices of  public  service,  and  the  liberties  of  the 
people  are  no  longer  secure.  When  once  such  a 
vicious  system  is  established,  it  becomes  the 
guard  and  protection  of  inferior  abuses.  Cor- 
ruption, once  tolerated,  extends  to  all  the  depart- 
ments of  the  government  and  becomes  the  rule. 

It  is  the  interest  of  each  to  defend  the 
others,  and  thus  all  keep  pure,  for  all  have  a 
mutual  interest.  Reformation  never  comes  from 
those  in  'power. 

If  we  would  compare  the  Federal  Constitutioti 
with  one  framed  as  here  indicated,  we  would  at 
once  discover  its  inadaptability  to  the  require- 
ments of  a  true  republic. 

In  its  legislative  dei^artment,  it  has  a  branch 


NATURE   AND    USES    OF    GOVERNMENT.      287 

devoted  to  the  interests  o£  the  higher  class.  By 
its  criminal  action,  untold  millions  of  dollars  have 
been  drawn  from  labor  and  given  to  idleness  ; 
by  it  a  debt  has  been  created  and  fastened  upon 
the  people,  to  be  borne  by  them  alone,  while  that 
class  best  able  to  bear  it  are  exonerated,  and 
this  debt  is  sought  to  be  perpetual.  Through 
the  influence  of  its  leading  members,  that  debt 
has  been  doubled  in  value  by  legislative  enact- 
ment, and  witliout  any  value  in  retui'n  to  the 
people. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  interference  of  the 
Senate,  the  money  which  was  designed  for  the 
expenditure  of  the  government  during  the  civil 
war,  and  which  would  have  been  at  par  with 
gold,  would  have  remained  in  sufficient  volume 
in  circulation  for  all  the  purposes  of  industry 
and  commerce. 

The  difference  between  such  a  condition  and 
that  which  now  exists  is  beyond  all  calculation. 
Notwithstanding  the  immense  loss  of  life  and  de- 
struction of  property  occasioned  by  the  war,  the 
volume  left  in  circulation  at  its  close  ffave  such 
an  impulse  to  industrial  pursuits  as  were  never 
before  known  in  the  history  of  our  nation. 

Wealth  flowed  in  upon  the  people  as  if  by 
magic,  debts  were  paid,  and  comforts  and  even 
elegances  were  begun  to  be    enjoyed.     Through 


288  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

the  influence  of  the  Senate,  contraction  began, 
and  the  tide  was  turned.  As  a  result,  the  peo- 
ple are  robbed  and  being  impoverished,  class  dis- 
tinctions are  built  up,  and  corporate  rule  holds 
absolute  sway. 

The  Senate  has  neither  sympathy  nor  respect 
for  the  people  ;  it  is  not  elected  by  them,  and  feels 
under  no  obligations  to  them.  This  is  justly  in- 
ferred from  the  history  of  their  action  for  the 
last  twenty  years. 

Thus  equality  is  destroyed,  liberty  trampled 
under  foot,  justice  ignored,  and  the  dear,  and 
long-cherished  hopes  and  aspirations  of  the  toil- 
ing millions  overthrown. 

The  executive  department  provided  in  the 
Federal  Constitution  is  no  less  inimical  to  the  lib- 
erties and  happiness  of  the  people.  The  vast 
powers  conferred  upon  the  chief  executive 
enables  him  to  turn  this  government  into  a  des- 
potism without  changing  the  Constitution  or 
abandoning  popular  elections.  He  is  the  head 
and  leader  of  the  dominant  political  party,  and 
the  power  and  patronage  vested  in  him  enables 
him  to  exercise  a  power  that  few  kings  possess. 

"Section  II.  (Art.  2.)  The  President  shall  be 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  array  and  navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the  several 
States  when  called  into  actual  service  of  the  United 


NATURE   AND    USE8    OF    GOVERNMENT.     289 

States.  He  may  require,  in  writing,  the  opinion  of 
the  principal  officers  in  each  of  the  executive  de- 
partments upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties 
of  their  respective  offices,  and  he  shall  have  power 
to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offenses  against 
the  United  States  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

"  2.  He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two- 
thirds  of  the  Senate  present  concur ;  and  he  shall 
nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Sen- 
ate shall  appoint,  embassadors,  other  public  minis- 
ters and  consuls,  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
all  other  officers  of  the  United  States  whose  ap- 
pointments are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for, 
and  which  shall  be  established  by  law  ;  but  the 
Congress  may  by  law  vest  the  appointment  of  such 
inferior  officers  as  they  think  proper  in  the  Presi- 
dent alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of 
departments. 

"  3.  The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all 
vacancies  that  may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the 
Senate,  by  granting  commissions  which  shall  expire 
at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

"  Sec.  in.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give 
to  Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union, 
and  recommend  for  their  consideration  such 
measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  ex- 
pedient ;  he  may  on  extraordinary  occasions  con- 
vene both  Houses  or  either  of  them,  and  in  case 
of  disagreement  between  them  with  resjsect  to 
the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them 
to  such  time  as  he  shall  think  proper ;  he  shall  re- 
ceive embassadors  and  other  public  ministers  ;  he 
shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed, 
and  shall  commission  all  the  officers  of  the  United 
States." —  United  States  Constitution. 

13 


290  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

Section  VII.,  2  (Article  I.),  clothes  the  Presi- 
dent with  a  negative  jiower  over  the  action  of 
the  Congress,  of  any  majority  less  than  two- 
thirds. 

These  powers  vested  in  the  President  are 
kingly  prerogatives  and  derived  from  English 
law,  modified  by  the  pressure  of  public  senti- 
ment at  the  time  of  the  framing  of  the  Federal 
Constitution  and  by  the  necessity  to  secure  its 
ratification. 

The  Englisli  monarch  commands  his  armies, 
creates  his  courts,  advises  his  Parliament,  ap- 
points his  embassadors,  makes  treaties,  and  par- 
dons state  criminals. 

What  a  wonderful  similarity  !  The  one,  the 
head  and  representative  of  nfree  government  and 
the  other  of  a  monarchy  !  How  obvious  it  Is 
that  this  transformation  of  a  popular  government 
into  a  despotism  of  the  vilest  and  most  degrad- 
ing kind — not  into  a  monarchy,  where  some 
respect  is  due  to  the  subjects,  but  of  an  oli- 
garchy, whose  sole  and  avowed  purpose  is  domin- 
ion of  all  the  wealth  resources  of  the  land. 

The  corrupting  influence  and  tyranny  of  the 
courts  transferred  from  the  English  monarchy 
with  no  material  change  of  character  are  by  this 
Constitution  foisted  ujoon  our  government,  a  de- 
partment unnecessary  in  a  government  of  equal- 


NATURE    AND    USES    OF    GOVERNMENT.     291 

ity,  intelligence,  and  justice.  Could  an  estimate 
be  made  that  would  exhibit  at  one  view  the  evils 
of  our  judiciary  system,  it  would  be  appalling. 
The  tyranny  of  the  courts,  the  defeat  of  justice, 
the  immunity  of  the  wealthy,  the  vexatious  de- 
lays, and  enormous  expense  are  burdens  too 
heavy  for  a  free  people  to  bear. 

The  Federal  Constitution  allows  members  of 
Congress  to  fix  their  own  compensation,  while 
the  people  have  to  supply  the  treasury  from 
which  they  draw  their  salaries. 

This  is  contrary  to  all  business  principles  ;  it 
should  be  determined  by  the  people  and  incorpor- 
ated in  their  Constitution. 

The  United  States  Constitution  authorizes  the 
disposition  of  the  "  territory  and  other  property 
of  the  United  States."— (Art.  IV.,  Sec.  III.) 

This  power  to  dispose  of  the  public  domain 
has  been  and  is  employed  to  build  up  giant 
monopolies,  which  override  the  liberties  of  the 
people  and  destroy  their  government.  The  idea 
that  the  public  domain  belongs  to  the  govern- 
ment and  not  to  the  people  is  derived  from  the 
prevailing  opinion  that  the  sovereign  is  sole  pro- 
prietor of  the  nation,  and  that  the  government  is 
the  sovereign.  The  people  have  been  robbed  of 
an  area  of  one-third  of  the  arable  land  of  the 
country  :  tiie  disastrous  effects  will  be  realized  in 


292  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

years  to  come.  It  lias  laid  the  foundation  for 
evils  that  may  culminate  in  blood.  Such  reck- 
less disregard  for  justice  and  the  public  welfare 
is  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  modern  govern- 
ments. The  powers  conferred  by  land  monopoly 
have  been  discussed,  and  their  evils  in  other 
countries  should  have  served  as  a  warning  to  our 
own  ;  but  blind  to  every  other  consideration,  cor- 
porate power  has  sought  every  means  for  its 
advancement,  and  the  very  foundation  of  all 
prosperity  has  been  removed  by  the  government 
transfer  of  the  land  of  the  people  to  the  control 
of  corporations. 

"  It  was  and  is  the  evident  duty  of  the  govern- 
ment," says  R.  T.  Bland,  "  to  prevent  any  mo- 
nopoly of  the  soil,  and  to  hold  the  public  lands 
to  equal  and  free  occupancy  by  the  people  for 
actual  settlement.  To  give  or  to  sell  the  lands 
in  large  bodies  to  Individuals  or  corporations  for 
speculative  purposes  is  a  manifest  usurpation 
and  injustice.  It  is  a  violation  of  the  spirit  of 
free  government,  and  incompatible  with  the  con- 
tinued existence  of  a  republic.  It  is  a  direct  step 
toward  aristocracy  and  despotism." 

The  results  of  vested  power,  and  its  exercise 
beyond  the  control  of  the  people,  are  perfectly  in 
accordance  with  the  conclusions  reached  by  logi- 
cal deductions.     The  temptations   it    affords   to 


NATURE    AND    USES    OF    GOVERNMENT.     293 

ambitious  and  unscrupulous  men  are  too  great  ; 
and  the  facilities  for  their  gratification  are  em- 
ployed for  the  overthrow  of  free  government. 
The  structure  of  our  government  offers  opportu- 
nities for  usurpation  and  robbery  ;  as  one  politi- 
cian was  candid  enough  to  say,  ''  If  the  people 
put  saddles  on  their  backs  and  spurs  on  our  heels, 
they  might  expect  we  would  ride."  The  conse- 
quence is,  the  worst  men  came  to  the  surface  ;  and 
a  Franklin  or  a  Jefferson  could  no  more  be  elected 
to  an  office  than  a  Christian  priest  could  officiate  at 
a  Mussulman's  altar.  The  idea  of  conferring 
titles  of  nobility  upon  citizens  would  excite  honest 
indignation,  but  they  are  virtually  conferred  by 
corporate  charters  vipon  American  citizens  who 
excel  English  aristocracy  in  everything  but  vir- 
tue. These  are  the  facts  that  confront  us  to-day ; 
these  are  the  logical  sequences  of  vested  pow^ers 
beyond  the  people's  control,  attracting  the  selfish, 
the  unscrupulous  and  ambitious,  and  virtually 
Inviting  them  to  take  the  reins  of  government 
In  their  own  hands ;  and  they  have  accepted 
the  Invitation  ;  they  have  seized  the  opportunity 
offered  them.  What  is  the  remedy?  Recon- 
struction. EstahUsh  a  government  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

It  Is  worthy  of  remark  how   tenaciously  the 
people  hold  to  a  mere  name,  and  refuse  to  accept 


294  THE   NEW   KEPUBLIC. 

the  facts  made  palpable  by  the  evidence  of  their 
senses,  and  cling  to  a  delusion  because  it  is  a 
pleasing  one,  and  try  to  make  themselves  believe 
the  delusion  is  a  reality. 

The  late  Judge  Black  has  given  his  testimony 
in  regard  to  the  political  condition  of  our  country, 
in  the  following  unmistakable  language  : 

"  The  actual  consequences  resulting  to  the  coun- 
try from  the  measures  of  the  monopolists  have  not, 
I  think,  been  truly  represented  or  properly  consid- 
ered.   For  many  years  past,  all  legislation  has  been 
partial  to  capitalists,  and  correspondingly  injurious 
to  the  rights  of  land  and  labor.    To  what  pernicious 
extent  this  system  has  been  carried  I  need  not  say, 
for  it  is  seen  and  known  of  all  men.     It  cannot  and 
will  not  come  to  good.     Artificial  regulations  of 
that  character  never  have,  since  the  beginning  of 
the  world,  had  any  effect  but  a  bad  one  on  the  gen- 
eral condition  of  society  that  tried  them.     But  the 
monopolists  insist  that  they  have  changed  the  nature 
of  things  and  enriched  the  masses  of  the  people  by 
the  simple  process  of  filching  from  them  the  fruits 
of  their  toil.     They  loudly  cry  out  that  the  whole 
country  is  in  a  state  of  boundless  prosperity.    They 
get  this  brag  inserted  in  political  platforms  when- 
ever they  can,  and  thunder  it  from  every  stump  on 
which  they  are  permitted  to  speak.     But  it  is  false. 
They  themselves  are,  indeed,  superabundantly  rich ; 
and    invested,  as   they  are,  with  the  privilege  of 
plundering  their  fellow-citizens,  why  should  they 
not  be  rich?     But  for  every  millionaire  they  have 
made  a  thousand  paupers.     The  relations  between 
workmen  and  employers  have  never  been  so  unsat- 


NATURE    AND    USES    OF    GOVERNMENT.      295 

isfactory  as  now.  Laborers  are  complaining  every- 
where of  inadequate  wages ;  and  the  complaint  is 
true  without  doubt.  The  law  ought  to  secure  them 
a  living  rate  of  compensation  ;  but  capital  has  got 
labor  by  the  throat,  and  will  not  suffer  anything 
done  for  its  relief. 

"Agriculture  is  scarcely  better  off.  The  farmer 
who  tills  his  own  acres  can  make  the  barest  living. 
The  carrying  trade  of  the  world  has  passed  from  us 
into  the  hands  of  our  great  rival,  simply  because 
our  jDreposterous  legislation  will  not  permit  us  to 
buy  ships  abroad,  or  build  them  at  home  without 
paying  a  tax  on  the  material,  which  enhance  their 
cost,  and  by  reason  of  this — that  is  to  say,  carry  it, 
or  get  it  carried  by  the  nearest  way — we  have  lost 
what  was  or  should  be  now  the  richest  portion  of 
our  foreign  commerce.  Is  all  this  loss  and  suffering 
of  the  industrious  classes  to  be  ignored? 

"  If  we  estimate  the  prosperity  of  a  country  only 
by  the  overgrown  fortunes  of  individuals  especially 
favored  by  law,  then  Ireland  is  prosj^ei'ous  as  well 
as  America ;  for  there  as  here  the  legal  machinery 
is  in  perfect  order,  which  makes  the  rich  richer, 
while  it  grinds  the  poor  down  into  deej)er  poverty ; 
and  thei-e  as  here  the  lines  of  Goldsmith  are  ever 
true  and  ever  wise : 

"  '  Hard  fares  the  state,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
"Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay.'  " 

In  formulating  and  framing  a  government,  we 
must  adopt  the  plan  of  nature.  The  entire  do- 
main of  natural  phenomena  is  the  necessary 
result  of  tiie  operation  of  natural  law  ;  whether 
it  be  in  the  domain  of  matter  or  mind,  the  law  is 


296  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

as  absolutely  definite  and  determinate  In  the 
realm  of  mentality  as  that  of  matter.  But  sensu- 
ous perception  has  always  preceded  the  deeper 
processes  of  the  reasoning  powers.  The  apparent 
always  comes  before  the  real,  even  in  the  realm 
of  matter.  Astrology  preceded  astronomy.  For 
thousands  of  years  the  wox'ld  was  satisfied  with 
the  Idea  that  the  earth  was  flat,  and  that  the  sun, 
planets,  and  stars  revolved  around  it.  Alchemy 
was  the  intuitive  vagaries  that  human  genius  has 
since  developed  Into  chemistry,  and  the  dreams  of 
transmutation  indulged  in  by  the  alchemist  are 
realized  in  the  magical  results  of  modern  chem- 
istry. The  forces  that  now  move  the  machinery 
of  the  civilized  world,  until  within  a  compara- 
tively recent  period  of  time,  were  slumbering  in 
the  coal-beds,  and  only  waited  the  power  of  gen- 
ius to  evoke  them.  The  electric  force,  that  until 
recently  only  displayed  itself  in  the  lightning's 
flash  and  the  thunder's  roar,  now  meekly  obeys 
the  voice  of  man  and  becomes  his  most  valuable 
servant. 

What  is  done  in  the  realm  of  mechanical  forces, 
that  have  added  so  much  to  the  power  of  pro- 
duction and  facility  of  communication,  may  soon 
be  'done  in  the  realm  of  thought.  The  mora} 
forces  that  move  the  social  world,  definite  and 
determinate  as  they  are,  will  be  recognized  and 


NATURE  AND  USES  OF  GOVERNMENT.  297 

applied  to  the  social  and  political  world.  As 
motion  is  the  result  of  physical  force,  so  emotion 
is  the  result  of  moral  force.  What  gravitation 
and  chemical  affinity  are  to  the  physical  world 
and  justice  to  the  moral  world,  so  is  desire  to 
the  social  world.  The  laws  of  motion  are  so  well 
understood  that  machinery  is  contrived  and  ar- 
ranged by  which  almost  incalculable  results  are 
obtained.  The  laws  of  moral  and  social  force 
must  be  equally  comprehended  and  applied  to 
obtain  results  of  commensurate  value. 

In  the  affairs  of  government,  the  natural  laws 
of  mind  are  ignored.  Self-constituted  authority 
and  usurpation  of  power  were  the  first  steps  to- 
ward the  establishment  of  government.  Edicts 
and  mandates  were  the  first  laws.  Resistance  on 
the  part  of  the  governed  was  the  next  step. 
This  resulted  in  a  compromise  between  the 
"  powers  that  be "  and  the  subject  of  these 
powers.  Under  such  a  system  of  government, 
in  the  course  of  time  there  accumulated  a  vast 
amount  of  laws  and  usuages,  sanctioned  by  cus- 
tom, in  the  form  of  edicts,  decisions,  opinions, 
speculations,  and  legislative  enactments,  classi- 
fied, systematized,  theorized,  and  formulated  ; 
and  elevated  into  the  dignity  of  a  science  by  the 
ingenious  commentaries  of  men  of  acknowledged 
13* 


298  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

ability,  and  accepted  as  the  authority  of  govern- 
ment. 

The  moral  law  of  social  relations  is  justice  ; 
that  of  government  is  force.  The  first  is  the 
law  of  God ;  the  second  the  law  of  man.  The 
adjustment  of  man's  relations  by  the  former  will 
secure  the  full  capacity  of  his  hap})Iness ;  the 
adjustment  by  the  latter,  under  the  control  of 
prevailing  power,  brings  into  existence  in  civil- 
ized nations  the  distinctions  of  high  and  low, 
rich  and  poor,  bond  and  free.  Force  takes  the 
place  of  justice.  Immense  wealth  in  few  hands 
is  drawn  from  labor  by  the  power  of  man-made 
law. 

There  is  no  more  effectual  way  of  establishing 
slavery  of  the  most  abject  kind  than  by  reduc- 
ing the  people  to  poverty.  Give  to  man  ever}'^- 
thlng  else  he  may  desire — health,  liberty,  learning, 
genius :  poverty  will  make  him  the  humblest 
and  most  submissive  slave.  Give  him  wealth, 
and  he  feels  the  aspirations  and  dignity  of  a  man, 
because  wealth  enables  him  to  develop,  exercise, 
and  enjoy  the  attributes  that  characterize  him  as 
a  moral,  intellectual,  and  social   being. 

Impoverishment  of  thj  people  is  the  only 
mode  of  subjugation,  and  ignorance  of  human 
rights,  however  much  impracticable  knowledge 
and  learned  nonsense  may  prevail,  is  the  means 


NATURE  AND  USES  OF  GOVERNMENT.  299 

of  subjugation.  Legislation  provides  for  it,  and 
the  "  courts  of  law  "  secure  it.  Force  and  author- 
ity  take  the  place  of  reason  and  justice.  Greed 
and  want,  avarice  and  poverty,  discontent  and 
submission,  are  the  somewhat  paradoxical  con- 
ditions of  the  people.  Three  words  will  express 
the  remedy — justice  to  all  ;  and  how  to  ob- 
tain that  justice  is  the  object  of  our  present 
inquiry. 

With  what  has  been  said,  the  method  may  be 
readily  Inferred.  Injustice  inevitably  brings 
misery.  The  whole  intent  of  republican  govern- 
ment is  to  secure  justice.  With  it  flow  all  the 
blessings  of  society  and  the  benefits  of  govern- 
ment. 

HoAv  shall  we  secure  it? 

1.  Frame  such  a  government  as  will  secure 
the  control  of  it  to  the  governed. 

2.  Provide  for  a  fair  and  honest  election  of 
ofl[icers  by  a  proportional  system  of  representa- 
tion. 

3.  Provide  due  qualification  for  citizenship  by 
disregarding  the  distinction  of  sex,  and  securing 
adequate  moral  and  intellectual  cultivation. 

4.  Let  all  power  delegated  to  oflScers  be  re- 
turned at  stated  periods  to  the  people  by  the 
expiration  of  their  term  of  office. 

5.  Let    the    burden    of    revenues    be    borne 


300  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

equally  by  all   in   proportion  to   tlieir  ability  to 
bear  it. 

6.  Provide  for  a  financial  system  by  which 
exchanges  are  made  equal,  and  a  just  distribu- 
tion of  wealth  is  secured. 

7.  Substitute  a  system  of  arbitration  for  the 
present  "  courts  of  law."  In  the  adjustment 
of  controversies,  justice  is  all  that  is  demanded. 
In  any  community  where  the  conduct  of  men  is 
expected  to  meet  with  approval,  they  certainly 
would  be  willing  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  such 
men  as  they  would  select.  The  complications, 
intricacies,  and  subtleties  of  law  are  beyond  the 
mental  scope  of  the  people,  and  when  applied  in 
the  adjustment  of  controvei'sies  or  causes  at  issue, 
by  a  class  of  experts  who  are  specially  trained 
in  those  complications,  intricacies,  and  subtleties, 
the  people  are  at  their  mei'cy ;  and  since  this 
class  officiate  for  the  people,  and  shape  and  con- 
strue the  laws  of  which  they  are  sole  creators 
and  expounders,  and  even  expounders  of  the 
meaning  of  Constitutions,  the  dependence  of  the 
people  on  them  is  that  of  absolute  submission — a 
condition  that  every  honest  man  should  spurn 
with  contempt  and  indignation. 

8.  A  system  of  national  enterprise  for  travel, 
transportation,  and  communication,  by  which 
only  the  cost  is  paid,  or  if  more,  let  it  be  applied 
as  revenue. 


NATURE  AND  USES  OF  GOVERNMENT.  301 

9.  A  system  of  education  by  which  the  citi- 
zens will  be  qualified  for  the  discharge  of  all 
their  duties,  and  thus  secure  a  free  government. 

These  are  the  fundamental  principles  upon 
which  a  true  republic  may  be  established,  the 
aim  and  end  of  which  is  the  regulation  and  pro- 
tection of  the  people  in  the  exercise  of  their 
natural  rights ;  and  this  exercise  is  the  best  and 
all  that  government  can  confer  upon  a  people. 
It  is  for  them  to  determine.  It  is  only  for  them 
to  understand  to  apply  the  remedy.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  conceive  that  men  will  take  up  arms  and 
spend  their  lives  and  fortunes,  not  to  maintain 
their  rights,  but  to  perpetuate  a  system  that  out- 
rages every  jirinciple  of  justice  and  destroys  their 
liberty. 

The  power  to  do  this  is  in  the  people  ;  but  that 
power  must  be  concentrated.  The  power  is  in 
the  knowledge  of  these  immortal  truths  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  and  in  their  will  to  enforce 
them. 

"If,  while  there  is  yet  time,"  says  Henry 
George,  "  we  turn  to  justice  and  obey  her,  if  we 
trust  liberty  and  follow  her,  the  dangers  that  now 
threaten  must  disappear."  The  means  for  such 
reconstruction  are  still  in  our  hands  ;  but  intelli- 
gence, resolution,  organization,  are  the  necessary 
conditions  for  its  successful  accomplishment.    Let 


802  THE    NEW    REPtTBLIC. 

the  ballot,  which  is  the  force  that  now  menaces 
our  destruction,  be  turned  to  agencies  for  con- 
struction. Let  wisdom  guide  and  reason  rule  ; 
let  unity  give  strength. 

With  a  government  as  here  Indicated,  what  a 
glorious   achievement   would    be    accomplished ! 

"  With  want  destroyed ;  with  greed  changed  to 
noble  passions ;  with  the  fraternity  that  is  born  of 
equality  taking  the  place  of  jealousy  and  fear  that 
array  men  against  each  other ;  with  mental  power 
loosened  by  conditions  that  give  to  the  humblest 
comfort  and  leisure — and  who  shall  measure  the 
heights  to  which  our  civilization  may  soar?  Words 
fail  the  thought!  It  is  the  golden  age  of  which 
poets  have  sung  and  high-raised  seers  have  told  in 
metaphor.  It  is  the  glorious  vision  which  has 
always  haunted  man  with  gleams  of  fitful  splendor." 
— Henry  George. 

Civilization,  which  has  risen  and  declined  in 
successive  periods,  may  steadily  pursue  Its  up- 
ward course.  It  only  needs  the  full  and  uninter- 
rupted play  of  the  social  forces,  and  the  political 
appliances  for  their  regulation  and  protection  of 
their  exercise,  to  reach  a  point  in  civilization 
never  yet  experienced  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
There  is  nothing  extravagant  or  exaggerating  in 
this  view. 

When  poverty  Is  removed ;  when  avarice  and 
greed  no  longer  goad  to  cruelty  and  robbery,  and 
the  higher  faculties  assert  their  prerogative,  then 


NATURE    AND    USES    OF    GOVERXMEXT.     303 

the  "  sword  will  be  beaten  into  a  plowshare,  and 
the  spear  into  a  pruning-hook." 

Is  not  this  worth  striving  for  ?  What  nobler 
object  could  engage  the  attention  of  man  ?  How 
earnestly  and  faithfully  the  patriot  fathers  strug- 
gled for  this !  How  bravely  and  lavishly  they 
poured  out  their  treasure  and  their  blood !  And 
shall  we,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  such  noble 
sires,  ignobly  submit  to  what  they  so  gloriously 
conquered  ? 

"  The  true  republic  is  not  yet  here;  but  her  birtli- 
struggles  must  soon  begin.  Already  with  the  hope 
of  her  men's  thoughts  are  stirring  Not  a  republic 
of  landlords  and  peasants,  nor  a  republic  of  million- 
aires and  tramps  ;  not  a  republic  in  which  some  are 
masters  and  some  serve  :  but  a  republic  of  equal  cit- 
izens, where  competition  becomes  co-operation,  and 
the  interdependence  of  all  gives  true  independence 
to  each ;  where  moral  progress  goes  hand  in  hand 
with  intellectual  progress,  and  material  progress 
elevates  and  enfranchises  even  the  poorest  and 
weakest  and  lowliest." — Henry  George. 


304  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

DirnCULTIES    CONSIDERED. 

"  Truth  cruslied  to  earth  will  rise  again, 
The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers  ;   ^ 
While  Error  writhing  in  her  pain 
Dies  amid  her  worshipers." 

The  presentation  of  new  thoughts,  or  even  of 
old  ones  in  new  arrangement  or  application,  ex- 
cites opposition  and  is  generally  resisted.  We 
cherish  our  opinions  with  vigilant  care.  No  dif- 
ference what  they  are  or  how  we  came  by  them  : 
should  they  be  assailed,  we  hasten  with  laudable 
zeal  to  defend  them.  Were  they  judiciously  se- 
lected from  the  great  field  of  thought  and  formed 
with  special  regard  to  truth  and  reason?  We 
never  knew  how  or  when  they  were  formed.  We 
never  questioned  their  soundness  nor  suspected 
their  validity.  But  let  a  new  idea,  or  a  new  appli- 
cation of  an  old  one,  be  presented  for  acceptance, 
and  forthwith  there  is  "  war  in  the  camp."  We 
approach  it  with  the  utmost  caution ;  we  examine 
it  with  the  utmost  care  ;  we  scrutinize  it  with 
the  keenest  adverse  criticism  ;  and  then — reject 
it.  This  is  the  most  favorable  consideration  of 
its  treatment.     Too  often  we  refuse  it  attention, 


DIFFICULTIES    CONSIDERED.  305 

and  not  seldom  make  war  upon  it  because  it  is  a 
new  idea. 

Tiiere  are  several  reasons  for  this.  We  love 
our  opinions  because — they  are  ours.  They  flow 
along  the  mental  ruts  without  much  exertion  ; 
whereas,  the  acceptance  of  a  new  idea  necessi- 
tates a  mental  effort. 

They  belong  to  our  sect  or  our  party,  and  are 
therefore  to  be  cherished.  To  adopt  a  new  train 
of  thought  or  of  thought  to  new  purposes  re- 
quires moral  courage — a  quality  of  mind  that 
cannot  be  overrated.  Any  change  is  not  popu- 
lar. The  advocacy  of  a  new  thought  or  a  new 
arrangement  of  thought  subjects  one  to  the 
charge  of  being  a  "  crank,"  an  impracticable 
dreamer,  an  optimist,  a  socialist,  a  communist — 
scarecrows  to  deter  investigation  and  keep  the 
timid  "in  their  proper  places." 

It  is  along  the  line  of  religious,  social,  and 
political  thought  that  the  advance  has  been 
slowest — where  passion  is  the  most  liable  to  ex- 
citement, where  control  of  opinion  is  most 
available  for  despotism. 

And  yet  ideas  arc  the  potent  agencies  in 
the  worhl.  The  idea  of  right  to  private  opinion, 
originated  by  Martin  Luther,  broke  down  the 
walls  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny  and  liberated  mil- 
lions from    the    rule    of   popery.     The    idea    of 


306  THE   NEW    REPUBLIC. 

diurnal  revolution  changed  the  direction  of 
thought  into  new  channels,  and  explained  the 
apparent  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and 
sent  Columbus  across  the  ocean  to  explore  a  new 
world.  The  idea  of  gravitation  formulated  as- 
tronomical science  and  gave  to  Newton  undying 
fame.  A  new  idea  sent  Franklin's  kite  into  the 
clouds  and  revealed  the  identity  of  the  light- 
ning's flash  with  that  mysterious  force  that  now 
binds  the  world  of  thought  by  the  electric  wire. 

These  new  ideas  battled  with  persistent  ener- 
gy against  stolid  conservatism  ;  and  years  of  pre- 
cious time  and  precious  treasure  and  more  precious 
blood  flowed  along  the  path  of  progress  as  a  sac- 
rifice to  the  god  of  "  old  opinion."  And  history 
is  about  to  repeat  itself  in  the  advent  of  another 
new  idea.  The  fitful  gleam  of  victory  won  by 
this  new  idea  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  lost  in 
the  gloom  of  old  conservatism,  is  about  to  burst 
forth  in  a  new  and  steady  light,  whose  splendor 
will  envelope  the  civilized  world,  and  bi-ing  joy 
and  peace  to  its  millions  of  struggling  toilers. 

A  careful  study  of  the  obstacles  to  be  over- 
come in  the  advent  of  a  new  idea  will  give  us 
some  impression  of  the  difficulties  to  be  sur- 
mounted in  the  impending  conflict.  Happily,  we 
have  as  the  fruits  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle 
the  two  essential  elements  of  success  in  the  strife 


DIFFICULTIES    CONSIDERED.  307 

left  to  us — the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the 
acknowledged  charter  of  our  liberties,  and  the 
ballot.  These  are  conceded.  They  dispense 
with  the  necessity  of  compulsory  force  in  an 
open  conflict,  and  relegate  the  battle-ground  to 
the  domain  of  ideas. 

We  are  placed  in  a  position  to  fight  with  brain 
and  heart.  This  is  the  true  method  of  warfare, 
its  victories  are  permanent  and  valuable.  Those 
of  Alexander,  Hannibal,  CVsar,  and  Napoleon 
concentrate  their  lurid  glare  upon  these  illustri- 
ous warri-ors;  while  those  of  Aristotle,  Plato, 
Lycurgus,  Gracchus,  Kepler,  Galileo,  Columbus, 
Newton,  Jefferson,  and  a  host  of  others  whose 
weapons  were  ideas,  have  shed  their  light  upon 
the  world,  and  will  continue  to  grow  brighter 
during  all  the  coming  ages 

The  condition  of  the  people,  arising  from  a 
multitude  of  opinions,  causing  distraction  and 
disunion  in  their  ranks,  is  the  thing  to  be  depre- 
cated. A  small  army  of  well-organized  and 
thoroughly  disciplined  troops  can  easily  defeat 
and  put  to  rout  a  large  army  of  disunited  and 
demoralized  soldiers.  Their  strength  lies  in  their 
organization,  and  not  in  their  numbers.  And  so 
it  is  in  this  political  warfare  :  strength  is  as  re- 
quisite and  as  dependent  on  organization  and 
discipline,  which  in  this  case  means  education. 


SOS  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  consider  tlie  dlfficul 
ties.  They  lie  in  the  condition  of  the  people,  and 
not  in  the  power  of  their  oppressors.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  way  to  permanent  and  complete 
victory  that  the  people  cannot  overcome.  The 
principles  upon  which  it  is  founded  are  acknowl- 
edged and  recognized.  The  intelligence  and  will 
of  the  people  constitute  the  acknowledged  power  ; 
and  the  ballot,  by  which  this  power  can  be  exer- 
cised, is  in  the  acknowledged  possession  of  the 
people.  All  tliat  is  needed  is  to  exercise  it. 
The  man  who  would  starve  to  death  with  his 
larder  well  supplied  would  be  considered  a  fool 
or  a  lunatic.  Our  enemy's  strength  is  our  weak- 
ness, and  our  weakness  is  our  disorganized,  dis- 
tracted condition.  As  long  as  we  remain  so, 
victory  over  us  is  easy  and  certain.  We  have  a 
common  cause,  a  common  interest.  We  have  a 
common  enemy.  He  is  vigilant,  active,  brave,  art- 
ful, and  far-seeing.  He  takes  advantage  of  our  pas- 
sions by  exciting  them  on  the  eve  of  an  election. 
He  takes  advantage  of  our  vices  in  keeping  their 
stimulants  before  us  in  the  form  of  vile  intoxi- 
cants. He  takes  advantage  of  our  ignorance  by 
concealing  his  real  objects  from  view,  and  put- 
ting us  upon  a  false  scent.  He  swindles  us  out 
of  true  representation  by  electing — or  rather 
make  us  elect  for  him — his  own  tools ;  or  should 


DIFFICULTIES    CONSIDERED.  309 

by  chance  an  honest  man  be  elected,  he  manages 
to  silence  him  in  some  way.  He  concentrates 
and  masses  us  in  nearly  equally  balanced  array, 
one  portion  of  us  against  the  other,  to  do  his 
bidding. 

It  is  to  be  acknowledged  that  these  achieve- 
ments require  cunning,  vigilance,  energy,  perfect 
organization,  and  untiring  zeal.  The  difficulty 
lies  in  our  prejudices,  lack  of  confidence  In  each 
other  and  in  ourselves,  in  our  political  bias  and 
party  zeal,  in  oiu-  want  and  the  fear  of  poverty, 
in  the  contemplation  of  the  enemy's  strength,  in 
his  wealth  and  political  power,  in  our  own  cupid- 
ity and  selfishness,  and  the  discouragement  of  the 
failures  of  our  favorite  plans.  It  lies  in  the  force 
of  custom,  submission  to  authority,  the  pressure 
of  Immediate  and  pressing  demands,  and  in  the 
inability  to  provide  for  them  while  organizing  the 
elements  necessary  to  the  defeat  of  the  enemy. 

The  apathy,  indifference,  and  neglect  arising 
from  these  conditions  are  difficult  to  overcome. 
The  people  are  strangers  to  each  other.  The 
expense  and  time  necessary  for  assembling  and 
intermingling  for  counsel  are  not  at  their  com- 
mand. They  depend  on  the  press  for  Informa- 
tion, which  Is  sure  to  ignore  all  intelligence 
necessary  for  the  improvement  of  their  condition, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  establish  a  system  of  jour- 


310  THE   NEW   KEPUBLIC. 

nalism  by  which  the  necessary  communication 
can  be  secured. 

Can  these  difficulties  he  overcome  with  the 
means  at  the  people's  command  ? 

This  is  the  question  pregnant  with  the  most 
vital  issues  of  the  age.  They  must  be  overcome. 
The  spirit  of  Napoleon's  question  must  be  in  our 
question — "Is  the  passage  through  the  moun- 
tain pass  possible  ?  "  asked  he  of  the  guide.  "  It 
is  impracticable,"  was  the  reply.  "  Is  it  possi- 
ble?" demanded  the  warrior,  in  a  stentorian 
voice.  This  is  the  question  the  people  must  put, 
and  in  the  earnestness  in  which  it  was  put  in 
the  midst  of  Alpine  snows.  And,  like  Napoleon, 
they  will  turn  the  impracticable  into  the  possible 
and  achieve  a  victory. 

It  is  possible ;  and  as  soon  as  this  fact  is  real- 
ized, victory  is  sure  to  follow. 

Shall  the  great  mass  of  the  American  peo])le 
be  consigned  to  servile  submission  to  a  few  rob- 
ber-chiefs because  of  their  superior  knowledge, 
energy,  and  skill  in  concentrating  and  directing 
their  forces  ?  Shall  the  few  prey  upon  and  im- 
poverish the  many,  while  it  is  conceded  that  the 
power  of  government  is  derived  from  the  con- 
sent of  the  governed?  Shall  despotism  rule 
while  the  people  hold  the  ballot?  Shall  ti'eason 
triumph  over  liberty  and  justice  be  handcuffed 
by  greed? 


DIFFICULTIES    CONSIDERED.  311 

The  thought  that  these  questions  are  perti- 
nent, or  can  even  be  suggested  with  a  hundred 
years  of  schooling  in  government,  is  humiliating, 
and  calculated  to  excite  alarm  in  the  minds  of 
every  lover  of  liberty. 

A  change  in  public  opinion  is  I'apidly  going 
on,  and  when  it  reaches  the  point  requisite  for 
action,  then  action  will  come.  At  present  the 
most  advanced  reform  political  party  sees  noth- 
ing and  proposes  nothing  that  promises  perma- 
nent relief  from  the  evils  they  suffer. 

Reduction  in  freights  and  fares,  advance  in 
wages  and  reduction  in  the  price  of  articles  of 
consumption,  lower  rates  of  interest  and  more 
liberal  terms  in  rent,  are  now  demanded;  the 
compliance  to  which  would  satisfy  the  people. 
They  ask  mitigation,  and  mitigation  is  compro- 
mise. To  compromise  with  robbers  and  usurpers 
is  to  acknowledge  the  right  to  rob  and  usurp. 

"It  is  best  that  the  truth  be  fully  stated  and 
clearly  recognized.  lie  who  sees  the  truth  let  him 
proclaim  it,  without  asking  who  is  for  it  or  w^ho  is 
against  it.  This  is  not  radicalism  in  the  bad  sense 
which  80  many  attach  to  the  word.  It  is  conserva- 
tism in  the  true  sense." — Henry  George. 

A  people  who  clearly  comprehend  their  rights, 
who  appreciate  their  value,  and  are  able  to  real- 
ize the  blessings  their  full  exercise  would  confer, 


312  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

would  lose  no  time  in  providing  the  means  for 
tlieir  enjoyment.  As  long  as  the  people  think 
the  theory  of  their  government  is  right,  there  is 
no  possibility  of  a  change. 

We  claim  the  right  not  only  to  choose  our  ser- 
vants to  perform  prescribed  duties,  and  to  hold 
them  responsible,  but  to  alter,  amend,  or  abolish 
the  Constitution,  and  frame  one  to  our  liking  if 
Ave  think  it  necessary ;  yet  we  go  on  repeating 
the  farce  over  and  over,  suffer  defeat  in  all  meas- 
ureS'of  redress  in  legislatures  and  courts,  while 
oligarchies  and  petty  aristocracies  multiply  and 
grow  stronger  year  by  year.  Every  effort  the 
people  make  in  their  behalf  is  in  some  way  foiled 
and  a  new  advantage  for  corporate  interest 
gained.  To  see  this  and  realize  it  is  tlie  first 
step.  Thought  will  thereby  be  aroused,  investi- 
gation succeed,  intelligence  develop ;  organiza- 
tion will  follow,  and  a  power  that  will  wrest 
from  the  hand  of  greed  the  people's  wealth,  and 
convert  the  machinations  of  political  chicanery 
into  an  honest  government. 

No  one  can  compute  the  evils  of  war.  In  the 
work  of  building  up  a  true  republic  there  is  no 
necessity  for  it.  The  battle-field  is  the  brain 
and  heart,  and  the  weapons  ideas  propelled  by 
the  love  of  justice,  equality,  and  liberty.  The 
victory  won  upon  this  field  will  be  lasting,  benefi- 
cent, glorious. 


SUMMARY.  313 

CHAPTER  XXL 

SUMMARY. 

"Is  it  right,  is  it  fair. 
That  we  perish  of  despair, 
In  this  land,  on  this  soil, 

Where  our  destiny  is  set, 
"Which  we  cultured  with  our  toil 

And  watered  with  our  sweat  ? 
We  have  plowed,  we  have  sown,  j^» 

But  the  crop  is  not  our  own  ; 
We  have  reaped,  but  harpy  hands 
Swept  the  harvest  from  our  lands." 

From  what  has  been  Avritten,  we  are  able  to 
obtain  some  Idea  of  what  a  republican  govern- 
ment should  be.  Its  object  is  to  secure  the  full- 
est and  freest  exercise  of  the  natural  rights  of  the 
citizen  consistent  with  good  government.  These 
rights  have  been  considered,  and  the  means  for 
their  exercise  somewhat  discussed. 

The  bounties  of  nature  so  generously  bestowed 
by  our  Creator  are  to  be  secured  alike  to  all  his 
children.  Land  is  the  primary  source  of  all  the 
means  of  life.  The  first  consideration  is  a  just 
method  by  which  a  just  portion  is  secured  to  all 
who  desire  to  occupy  and  use  it — or,  rather,  the 
necessity  of  such  occupancy  and  use ;  the  mode 
is  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 
11 


314  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

Those  who  control  the  land,  and  can  fix  the 
terms  of  occupation,  hold  a  power  over  the  occu- 
pants. He  who  controls  the  means  of  life  con- 
trols life  itself.  Since  land  is  the  primary  source 
of  the  means  of  life,  and  is  controlled  in  large 
quantities  by  few  individuals,  we  can  easily  per- 
ceive the  evils  of  land  monopoly.  The  necessity 
of  removing  this  evil  is  apparent  to  all.  A  true 
republic  cannot  exist  with  our  present  laws  of 
land  tenure. 

Now  what  is  the  duty  of  the  citizen  ?  Some 
means  must  be  adopted  by  which  the  natural 
rights  of  the  people  to  the  land  are  secured  ;  and 
this  right  transcends  in  importance  all  others. 
What  that  method  is  must  be  determined  by  the 
people. 

A  medium  of  exchange  is  of  next  importance. 
The  false  teachings  designedly  set  up  by  those 
interested  in  controlling  the  currency  have  en- 
abled them  to  so  mystify  the  public  mind  as  to 
secure  such  control. 

The  necessity  of  a  clear  and  comprehensive 
understanding  of  money,  its  nature  and  func- 
tions, is  so  obvious  that  no  one  can  fail  to  see  it. 
The  equal  exchange  of  values  would  prevent 
their  accumulation  in  the  hands  of  those  who 
control  the  volume  of  circulation.  In  this  con- 
sists the  evil.     The  effectual  method  by  which 


SUMMARY.  315 

this  is  done  is  to  make  gold  and  silver  the  basis. 
So  long  as  this  idea  prevails,  there  is  no  hope  for 
a  system  of  finance  that  will  secure  all  the  bene- 
fits of  money  to  the  people,  and  enable  them  to 
avoid  the  evils  that  arise  from  it.  AVith  the  con- 
trol of  the  volume  of  currency  in  the  hands  of 
the  few,  and  for  their  benefit,  a  republic  cannot 
exist. 

The  history  of  our  government  is  ample  proof 
of  this.  The  moneyed  corporations  and  capital- 
ists hold  absolute  control  over  the  industries  of 
the  country  :  labor  and  its  products,  and  con- 
sequently the  laborer  and  producer,  are  dependent 
on  those  who  conti*ol  the  money  of  the  country. 
This  creates  distinctions  between  the  many  and 
the  few  :  the  many  toil  and  suffer ;  the  few  are 
clothed  in  "purple  and  fine  linen,  and  fare 
sumptuously  every  day." 

This  distinction  creates  aristocracies,  and  aris- 
tocracies cannot  exist  in  a  republic.  Therefore, 
a  system  of  finance  that  will  meet  the  demands 
of  the  people  in  effecting  an  equal  exchange  and 
distribution  of  values  is  an  imperative  necessity. 

Regulation  of  transportation  and  travel,  that 
will  secure  all  their  benefits  to  the  people  at 
actual  cost,  is  an  equal  necessity.  The  history  of 
transportation  in  this  country  demonstrates  the 
fact  that  vast  wealth  is  accumulated  by  corpora- 


316  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

tions  tliat  control  transportation  and  travel  at 
the  expense  of  the  people.  The-  rights  of  the 
people  must  be  secured  In  the  best  modes  and 
cheapest  rates  before  a  true  republic  can  exist. 

Telegraphic  communication  should  constitute 
part  of  the  postal  system,  thus  increasing  the 
facilities  for  the  spread  of  intelligence.  So  far, 
this  important  and  valuable  agent  is  controlled, 
and  the  people  are  made  dependent  on  those  who 
control  it,  not  onlyybr  intelligence,  but  for  what 
intelligence  they  receive—often  false,  and  always 
such  as  serves  the  purposes  of  the  managers. 
Therefore,  the  telegraph  system  must  be  made 
to  serve  the  people's  interests.  This  is  essential 
to  the  existence  of  republican  government. 

The  revenues  of  the  government  must  be  pro- 
vided by  a  tax  on  property  and  not  on  labor. 
The  burden  would  then  be  borne  equally  by  all 
in  proportion  to  their  ability  to  bear  it.  The  his- 
tory of  our  revenue  system  shows  the  gross  in- 
justice of  it  by  imposing  an  undue  burden  on  the 
laboring  classes  and  protecting  capitalists,  and 
by  destroying  one  of  the  most  important  and  val- 
uable industries  of  the  country — marine  com- 
merce. This  condition  is  incompatible  with  a 
government  wherein  equal  rights  to  all  are  to  be 
exercised  and  enjoyed  by  all. 

The  co-existence  of  natural  rights  and  corpor- 


SUMMARY.  317 

ate  power  Is  impossible  in  a  true  republic,  for 
corporate  power  Is  the  usurpation  of  natural 
rights.  Corporations  have  become  the  agents 
by  which  all  political  and  industrial  powers  are 
exercised — in  the  Interests  of  corporations.  The 
exercise  of  corporate  power  vested  by  law  and 
sustained  by  the  courts  has  obtained  such  con- 
trol over  land,  over  money,  over  transportation, 
and  all  popular  Interests,  that  the  people  are 
made  dependent  on  them,  and  are  compelled  to 
submit  to  their  dictation.  The  history  of  our 
country  proves  this  also.  Therefore,  corporations 
for  private  gain  and  Individual  aggrandizement 
are  at  war  with  the  true  Interests  of  a  republic. 

An  elective  system  by  which  proportional 
representation  can  be  secured  Is  an  Indispensable 
requirement  of  a  true  republic.  In  the  election 
of  legislators  or  any  other  body  of  men  clothed 
with  specific  powers,  as  many  citizens  as  possible 
should  be  represented.  As  our  election  laws 
now  exist,  It  can  be  shown  that  a  very  small  mi- 
nority of  the  people  may  elect.  The  system  of 
conventions  for  nominating  candidates  are  con- 
trolled in  the  interests  of  corporations,  and  their 
agents  and  elections  are  but  the  ratification  of 
some  one  whose  manipulators  are  more  skillful 
or  can  command  more  "  influence." 

Our    legislative    system,    consisting    of    two 


318  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

branches,  is  inconsistent  with  popuhir  representa- 
tion. It  renders  legishition  difficult  and  dilatory, 
and  offers  ample  opportunity  for  defeating  the 
people's  will  and  securing  class  interests.  It  is 
useless,  cumbersome,  dilatory,  and  open  to  cor- 
ruption and  destructive  to  republican  govern- 
ment. 

The  appointing  and  veto  power  are  kingly  pre- 
rogatives and  a  usurpation  of  natural  rights. 
The  office  of  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  forces  of  the  nation  is  another. 
The  appointing  power  brings  to  his  support  a 
class  of  men  who  by  their  dependence  and  sense 
of  obligation  for  their  place  feel  bound  to  serve 
their  master.  His  veto  power  enables  him  to 
defeat  national  legislation,  measured  by  a  major- 
ity verging  on  two-thirds  of  both  branches. 
His  military  authority  gives  him  immense  pres- 
tige and  power,  which  he  may  exercise  at  his 
discretion. 

A  judiciary  system  is  in  existence  in  our  gov- 
ernment that  is  the  source  of  a  vast  amount  of 
corruption  and  fraud,  and  bears  heavily  upon  the 
people.  Predicated  on  the  authority  of  law,  it 
only  aims  to  deal  with  law  and  the  precedents 
established  by  decisions  of  courts,  some  of  which 
were  made  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago! 
Strange  that  men  of  mature  minds  and  experience 


SUMMARY.  319 

should  be  compelled  to  go  back  a  hundred  years 
and  search  among  the  musty  volumes  of  judicial 
decisions  to  determine  a  case  in  which  the  parties 
to  it  demand  simple  justice  !  The  whole  system 
is  defended  and  supported,  not  for  the  sake  of 
justice,  but  because  it  is  a  source  of  vast  revenue 
and  power  to  a  class  of  men  trained  in  the  ab- 
struse subtleties  of  the  law — not  a  necessary, 
but  an  unnecessary,  evil ;  for  it  has  been  shown 
that  a  system  of  adjudication  in  which  justice 
can  be  secured  independent  of  "  law  courts," 
and  the  paraphernalia,  expense,  delay,  appeal, 
vexation,  and  uncertainty  of  trials  at  law,  is  in- 
compatible with  a  republican  government. 

Courts  profess  not  only  to  administer  the  law, 
but  to  interpret  the  law,  and  although  the  law- 
making power  is  declared  to  be  supreme,  the 
court  declares  this  or  that  law  null  and  void  by 
its  own  authority.  The  courts  which  often  set 
aside  equitable  cases  should  themselves  be  set 
aside,  and  the  more  simjsle,  speedy,  direct,  and 
less  expensive  system  of  arbitration  be  substi- 
tuted. Instead  of  justice,  we  have  law  ;  instead 
of  reason,  we  have  authority.  An  eminent  law- 
yer has  given  his  testimony : 

"  It  has  been  the  custom  from  time  immemorial 
for  courts  to  be  governed  and  controlled  by  prece- 
dents.    This  is  adopted  in  order  that  the  law  may 


320  THE   NEW   REPUBLIC. 

be  settled  and  certain.  When  questions  arise  un- 
der the  statutes,  the  meaning  of  which  is  ambigu- 
ous, resort  is  had  to  former  decisions  under  lilie 
statutes  for  a  rule  of  construction,  and  thus  the  law 
is  settled.  "We  accept  the  decision  as  the  law,  and 
to  criticise  it  is  deemed  discourteous  to  the  court 
making  it.  To  call  in  question  the  motives  of  the 
courts  or  to  doubt  their  wisdom  is  deemed  eank 
TEEASON.  The  rule  governing  them  inay  be  of  an- 
cient date ;  the  reason  for  its  adoption  may  have 
long  ceased;  the  eule  itself  may  be  obsolete. 
....  Most  of  these  old  precedents  originated  in 
monarchical  countries  where  all  doubtful  questions 
were  construed  in  favor  of  the  crown,  and  where 
the  rights  of  the  people  always  yielded  to  kingly 
jn-erogative The  j^ractice  of  solving  consti- 
tutional problems  by  resort  to  old  monarchical  pre- 
cedents, and  the  adoption  of  the  reasoning  of  the 
high  courts  of  the  king's  exchequer,  should  not  be 
tolerated  in  a  republic.  Our  courts  should  be 
courts  of  the  people,  and  not  a  star-chamber  for  the 
protection  and  perpetration  of  the  monarchical  dog- 
ma that  '  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  independent 
national  existence  that  the  government  should  have 
a  firm  hold  on  the  two  great  sovereign  instrumen- 
talities of  the  sword  and  the  purse,'  as  was  declared 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  De- 
cember, 1871.  Such  declarations  are  at  war  with  our 
ideas  of  republican  government.  It  has  no  support, 
save  in  despotic  governments  and  decisions  emanat- 
ing from  them ;  yet  it  is  the  doctrine  that  must  ob- 
tain if  the  recent  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  are 
to  remain  as  the  settled  law  of  the  nation.  To  accept 
this  doctrine  as  the  final  exposition  of  the  relative 
rights  of  the  people  and  the  government  is  to  ac- 
knowledge that  the  agents  and  servants  of  the  peo- 


SUMMARY.  321 

pie,  elected  and  appointed  to  office,  become  their 
masters,  clothed  with  imperial  power." — D.  C. 
Cloud. 

The  Supreme  Court  declares  what  is  law  and 
what  is  not  law,  what  is  constitutional  and  what 
is  not.  It  administers  the  law  or  not  in  accord" 
ance  with  its  supreme  pleasure.  It  is  not  respon- 
sible to  the  people  ;  it  is  tlie   supreme  autocrat. 

There  could  not  have  been  devised  a  more 
successful  and  effectual  method  of  defeating  jus- 
tice, and  giving  full  scope  and  free  play  to  legal 
minds,  than  the  jury  system.  The  less  a  man 
knows,  the  better  qualified  he  is  for  a  juror.  If 
he  reads  the  news  and  forms  an  opinion,  he  can- 
not serve.  Integrity  and  intelligence  tell  against 
him.  Men  unaccustomed  to  continuous  thought 
and  logical  processes  are  kept  for  hours,  and 
sometimes  for  days,  exposed  to  the  jDitiless  storm 
of  contentious  wrangling  and  intricate  sophis- 
tries, become  so  wearied  and  confused  that  they 
are  unable  to  put  two  ideas  in  logical  order. 
What  chance  for  justice,  when  with  confused  and 
exhausted  minds  they  retire  for  deliberation,  to 
grapple  with  the  abstruse  subtleties  of  the  law, 
and  the  contending  arguments  of  the  opposing 
counsel?  One  juryman,  more  wise  or  more  ob- 
stinate, offsets  the  eleven,  and  the  case  goes  back 
to  the  court  to  repeat  the  farce. 
14* 


322  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

Besides,  men  are  taken  from  their  business, 
and  kept  for  days  in  the  custody  of  the  court  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  whether  they  are 
stupid  enough  for  first-chiss  jurymen.  Custom 
has  fortified  the  practice,  and  the  people  think 
they  must  submit. 

Thus  tlie  people  suffer  and  are  robbed  accord- 
ing to  law  ;  they  support  an  army  of  men  skilled 
in  legal  legerdemain,  who  produce  nothing  but 
evil,  according  to  law. 

Education,  which  involves  the  very  existence 
of  a  republic,  has  proved  insufficient  and  inade- 
quate to  the  high  and  important  offices  it  is  de- 
signed to  perform.  With  hundreds  of  millions 
of  dollars  expended  in  its  support,  and  the  great 
expectations  the  people  have  cherished,  how  little 
real  service  it  has  rendered  !  Years  of  the  most 
precious  period  of  life  are  wasted  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  knowledge  never  called  into  use  ;  while 
other  knowledge,  waiting  the  opportunity  of  the 
master  to  impart,  and  which  the  imperative 
necessities  of  life  demand,  is  not  even  dreamed  of 
by  the  educators  of  the  land.  The  principles  of 
political  science,  the  very  basis  of  society  and 
government,  are  unknown  to  the  educational  cur- 
riculum, indispensable  to  popular  government ; 
it  should  be  the  great  central  idea  of  popular 
education.     The   necessity   of    qualification   for 


SUMMARY.  323 

citizenship  has  been  shown.  Let  it  be  realized 
in  its  full  force. 

This  brief  enumeration  of  objections,  fatal  to  a 
true  republic,  will  indicate  the  plan  and  outline  of 
such  a  government  as  was  contemplated  by  the 
patriot  fathers,  and  which  was  partially  set  in 
operation  for  a  brief  period. 

The  claim  of  equal  natural  rights  made  sacred 
and  inalienable  by  divine  endowment,  and  the 
right  to  organize  and  establish  a  government  to 
secure  their  free  exercise,  asserted  and  main- 
tained in  defiance  of  the  despotism  of  the  Old 
World,  was  heroic,  grand,  and  sublime.  After 
a  hundred  years  of  experience  in  an  ineffectual 
struggle  to  support  a  republican  government, 
•and  with  the  aid  advancing  knowledge  and  the 
history  of  other  governments  as  lights  and  warn- 
nings,  the  people  should  be  able  to  frame  a  gov- 
ernment that  will  be  a  republic  in  fact  as  well  as 
in  name. 

It  is  expected,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  the 
people,  fully  sensible  of  their  great  wrongs,  and 
of  the  rights  they  hold  by  divine  inheritance,  and 
appreciating  the  means  and  opportunities  at 
their  disposal,  will  proceed  without  delay,  and 
show  to  the  world  that  they  have  rights  and  are 
able  to  maintain  them. 

When  we  think  of  what  might  be,  what  the 


324  THE   NEAV    REPUBLIC. 

almost  Infinite  capacity  for  improvement,  for 
human  culture,  for  happiness  ;  when  we  think  of 
the  plenitude  of  wealth  that  might  be  produced, 
of  the  freedom  we  might  enjoy,  with  the  appli- 
ances of  all  these  already  at  our  hands  ;  when 
we  think  of  the  beautiful,  elegant  homes,  and 
their  smiling,  happy  inmates  ;  when  we  think  how 
poor,  how  pitiful,  how  little  better  than  barbar- 
ism, is  this  land  of  civilization,  with  its  teeming 
millions  toiling  with  calloused  hands,  with 
bended  backs,  and  stiffened  joints :  if  we  could 
realize  their  cares  and  anxieties,  their  want  and 
fear  of  want,  and  their  struggles  with  pov- 
erty and  debt ;  if  we  could  at  once  set  this 
picture  and  that  side  by  side — what  feelings 
of  recfret  and  indignation  would  fill  the  soul ! 
Yet  these  pictures  are  not  overdrawn. 

This  is  a  broad  and  rich  land.  A  beneficent 
Father  has  endowed  it  with  inexhaustible  nat- 
ural resources,  and  his  children  with  unmeas- 
ured capacities  and  possibilities,  and  yet  we 
groan  with  burdens  heaped  upon  us  by  those 
who  are  in  theory  our  equals,  but  in  reality  ten 
thousand  times  stronger,  because  we  have  bowed 
down  to  the  authority  of  laws  enacted  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  taking  our  power  unto  them- 
selves. 

In    our    senseless  zeal    for    party,  we    have 


SUMMARY.  325 

placed  in  power  men  who  have  sought  their 
places  with  the  sole  intent  of  betraying  us,  and 
then  i-eap  for  themselves  a  reward  for  their 
treachery  !  We  have  done  this  repeatedly.  We 
have  a  hundred  years'  experience,  and  that  of 
other  nations  for  thousands  of  years,  yet  we 
struggle  in  the  toils  of  error,  succumb  to  the 
weakness  of  ignorance,  and  flounder  in  the  sea  of 
political  empiricism  !  We  go  back  more  than  a 
hundred  years  and  search  amid  the  vague  specu- 
lations of  monarchists  for  light  to  guide  us  in 
framing  and  supporting  republican  institutions ! 

With  righteous  indignation  and  heroic  energy 
we  strip  off  the  robes  of  royalty,  and  in  a  few 
short  years  we  don  them  in  the  name  of  liberty. 
We  hurl  with  contempt  the  insignia  of  nobility 
and  its  supporters,  primogeniture  and  entail  from 
the  pages  of  our  fundamental  law,  and  forthwith 
endow  the  same  instrument  with  the  purple  and 
fine  linen  of  corporate  power.  With  British 
common  law,  British  courts,  British  finance, 
British  legislation,  and  British  executive  prerog- 
atives transferred  to  American  soil,  we  vainly 
imagine  we  are  living  in  a  republic. 

May  this  delusion  be  swept  away  ;  may  we  be 
enabled  to  behold  our  condition  as  it  is;  and  then 
with  one  heart  and  with  one  intent  stand  forth 
resolved  to  be  free. 


326  THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

To  do  this,  we  must  demand  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  by  which  the  natural  and  in- 
alienable rights  of  the  people  will  be  secured  in 
their  free  and  full  exercise.  These  rights  are 
divinely  endowed  ;  they  are  guaranteed  by  the 
Declaration  of  Independence ;  they  were  con- 
ceived in  the  highest  and  holiest  aspirations  of 
the  human  soul,  and  brought  forth  amid  the  din 
of  battle  and  the  flow  of  blood — "  that  when- 
ever ANY  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT  BECOMES 
DESTRUCTIVE  OF  THESE  ENDS,  ....  TO  SE- 
CURE THE  RIGHTS  OF  THE  GOVERNED,  ....  IT 
IS  THE  RIGHT  OF  THE  PEOPLE  TO  ALTER  OR 
ABOLISH  IT,  AND  TO  INSTITUTE  A  NEW  GOVERN- 
MENT, LAYING  ITS  FOUNDATION  ON  SUCH  PRIN- 
CIPLES AND  ORGANIZING  ITS  POWERS  IN  SUCH 
FORM  AS  TO  THEM  SHALL  SEEM  MOST  LIKELY 
TO  EFFECT  THEIR  SAFETY  AND  HAPPINESS." 


SYI^TOPSIS 


THE   NEW  REPUBLIC. 


DEFINITION. 

Popular  o;overnment  is  a  national  association 
in  which  all  its  citizens  are  recognized  as  possess- 
ing equal  rights,  privileges,  and  opportunities. 

The  term  "popular  government"  means  a  "govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people  " ; 
that  is,  one  in  which  the  will  of  the  people  is  fairly 
and  properly  expressed  and  exercised. 

POWER. 

The  power  of  such  a  government  is  derived 

"  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 

There  are  essentially  two  forms  of  government : 
in  the  one,  the  power  is  assumed  or  usurped,  and 
is  vested  in  one  or  moi-e  persons  who  claim  the 
right  to  rule  ;  such  government  is  a  monarchy, 
usually  in  some  modified  form,  an  aristocracy,  or  a 
confederation  of  petty  aristocracies,  constituting 
an  oligarchy.     In  the  other,  the  power,  emanating 


328  SYNOPSIS. 

from  the  people  by  virtue  of  their  natural  rights,  is 
delegated  to  representatives  to  execute  the  people's 
will ;  this  form  of  government  is  a  republic.  In 
the  former,  it  is  permission  by  or  submission  to 
usurped  ])0wers  ;  in  the  latter,  it  is  consent  which 
implies  volition,  will,  by  the  governed.  Since  voli- 
tion means  freedom  of  action,  a  government  deriv- 
ing its  power  from  the  consent  of  the  governed 
must  be  a  free  government. 

PURPOSE. 

The  object  of  popular  government  is  the  regu- 
lation and  protection  of  all  its  citizens  in  the  full 
and  free  exercise  of  their  natural  rights  and  op- 
portunities. 

In  monarchies  and  aristocracies,  the  purpose  of 
government  is  the  aggrandizement  of  those  who 
govern  at  the  expense  of  the  governed ;  in  a  popu- 
lar government  all  the  benefits  go  to  the  governed. 
It  follows,  as  an  inevitable  conclusion,  that  if  "  all 
men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by 
their  Creator  Avith  certain  inalienable  rights  " — all 
must  be  equal  beneficiaries  in  any  scheme  of  gov- 
ernment instituted  "  to  secure  these  rights." 

CONDITIONS    NECESSARY    FOR    ITS    EXISTENCE. 

Popular  government  can  only  exist  when  there 

is  intelligence  in  its  citizens  to  comprehend  the 

principles  upon  which  it  is  based,  and  virtue  to 

appreciate  the  rights  upon  which  it  is  founded. 

No  duty  can  be  properly  performed  without  due 
qualification   of   those  upon  whom   such  duty  de- 


«TNOPSis.  329 

volves.  No  one  would  intrust  another  with  any- 
kind  of  work  or  business,  unless  he  was  satisfied  as 
to  the  qualification  of  the  person  so  intrusted  for 
that  work  or  business ;  for  no  one  could  succeed 
in  any  enteri:)rise  or  business  without  the  proper 
knowledge  and  skill.  No  one  can  intrust  another 
unless  he  himself  understands  the  work  to  be  per- 
formed, with  any  prospect  of  success.  If  the  em- 
ployer be  ignorant,  he  is  dependent  on  the  employee 
and  at  his  mercy.  Designing  knaves  seek  such  em- 
ployers because  they  can  take  advantage  of  them. 
In  popular  government  the  people  are  the  employ- 
ers and  their  only  safeguard  is  their  intelligence. 

Not  only  is  intelligence  necessary,  but  the  ability 
to  appreciate  the  value  of  human  rights  is  essential 
to  their  preservation  and  enjoyment.  The  love  of 
justice  must  be  supreme;  for  justice  is  to  the  men- 
tal what  gravitation  is  to  the  physical  world — the 
great  regulator  of  the  equilibrium  of  values,  as 
gravity  is  that  of  forces.  If  values  are  duly  appre- 
ciated, they  are  secured  and  utilized ;  if  not,  they 
cannot  be.  Therefore,  there  must  be  such  luve  of 
justice  in  the  people  that  any  violation  of  it  would 
be  deemed  sacrilege.. 

The  value  of  these  rights  is  equal  to  life  itself ; 
and  life  is  valuable  only  so  far  as  they  are  exercised 
and  utilized.  Hence,  the  conditions  necessary  to 
the  existence  and  maintenance  of  a  popular  govern- 
ment must  depend  on  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of 
its  citizens. 

ENUMERATION    AND    DEFINITION    OF    RIGHTS. 

I.  The  right  to  live  ;  that  is,  to  the  free  and 
unrestrained  activity  of  all  the  physical  powers 
and  mental  faculties  of  the  individual  in  the  le- 
gitimate pursuits  of  life. 


330  SYNOP?iIS. 

Tliis  is  pei*3onal  freedom,  without  which  no  one 
can  truly  be  said  to  live ;  namely,  to  carry  out  all 
the  purposes  of  life ;  although  he  may  in  a  certain 
sense  be  said  to  exist. 

11.  Tlie  means  of  life,  which  consist  in — 
(1.)  The  possession  and  free  use  of  all  the 
natural  elements  of  wealth — God's  free  gifts  to 
man — sunlight,  air,  water,  and  the  natural  prod- 
ucts in  it,  and  land  with  its  natural  productions, 
as  minerals,  metals,  forests,  and  wild  animals  and 
fruits. 

Since  these  natural  means  of  wealth  are  produced 
by  no  man,  they  belong  to  no  man  ;  but  as  "  God 
is  no  respecter  of  persons,"  they  belong  to  all 
equally  alike.  They  are  sources  of  supply  for  man's 
consumption,  and  as  all  equally  need  the  supply  for 
consiimption,  all  are  equally  entitled  to  the  means 
for  obtaining  the  supply  for  consumption. 

Sunlight  is  the  great  vivifying  j^rinciple  of  the 
earth  :  all  life  and  organization  depend  upon  it. 

Air  is  so  essential  to  life  that  were  one  compelled 
to  walk  two  hundred  yards  to  reach  it,  he  would 
perish  in  the  attempt.  Hence  it  envelopes  the 
whole  earth,  and  presses  into  every  nook  and  cor- 
ner where  life  exists. 

Water  enters  into  every  structure  of  organized 
beings,  and  of  most  of  them  constitutes  the 
greater  part.  It  is  the  great  fertilizer  of  the  soil, 
and  an  essential  supporter  of  life. 

Land  is  the  source  of  the  means  of  life,  and  those 
who  control  it  control  the  means  of  life.  In  densely 
populated  countries,  this  condition  is  fully  realized. 
In  our  country  the  possession  and  control  of  vast 


SY>opsis.  331 

tracts  of  land  are  rapidly  passing  into  the  hands  of  a 
few.  As  population  increased,  the  area  of  our  coun- 
try expanded  and  the  pressure  was  not  felt ;  but 
its  limits  are  now  nearly  reached,  population  is 
flowing  in  and  increasing  among  us,  and  the  time 
is  not  far  distant,  when,  by  accumulation  in  large 
tracts  in  the  hands  of  the  few  and  increase  of  popu- 
lation, there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  poverty  and 
enslavement  of  the  many  by  the  few. 

(2.)  (a.)  The  use  and  benefits  of  the  forces 
evolved  by  the  expansive  power  of  heat  and 
other  means  for  the  evolution  of  force. 

The  law  by  which  force  is  evolved  is  God's  law, 
and  the  benefits  derived  from  it  belong  alike  to  all 
his  children.  The  value  of  these  forces  may  be  es- 
timated by  the  consideration  of  the  fact  that  the 
evolution  of  force  is  only  limited  by  the  demand 
for  it  in  the  propulsion  of  machinery,  and  that 
in  the  power  of  steam  alone  more  force  is 
evolved  than  is  equal  to  the  united  muscular  force 
of  manual  labor. 

(6.)  The  benefits  arising  from  the  disturb- 
ance of  static  conditions  by  electric  and  magnetic 
agencies,  by  wiiich  messages  are  conveyed  in- 
stantaneously for  thousands  of  miles  ;  and  other 
uses  for  man's  progress  and  impi'ovement. 

In  the  i^resent  state  of  the  civilization  of  the 
world,  these  agencies  are  indisi)ensable,  and  their 
value  is  beyond  computation,  and  all  are  equally 
entitled  to  their  benefits. 

(c.)  The  advantages  of  tlie  reception  and  dis- 
tribution of  force  by  mechanical  contrivances. 


332  SYNOPSIS. 

By  means  of  labor-saving  macliinery,  the  produc- 
ivo  power  of  wealth  has  been  increased  tenfold. 
This  increase  in  the  facility  for  the  production  of 
values  belongs  to  all,  because  it  is  obtained  by 
natural  law,  which  is  God's  law.  The  inventor 
should  be  compensated,  not  for  the  value  of  his  in- 
vention, but  for  the  time,  labor,  and  expense  em- 
ployed in  his  work. 

(3.)  The  issue  and  control  of  a  medium  of  cir- 
culation for  the  exchange  of  values. 

Money  is  simply  a  device  for  the  exchange  of 
commodities,  and  its  authority  is  derived  from  law, 
that  is,  the  mutual  agreement  of  all  in  the  govern- 
ment to  accept  as  a  token  of  value  some  device 
upon  which  value  is  expressed  in  the  unit  or  units 
of  value,  in  exchange  for  a  value  in  some  commod- 
ity or  service  rendered. 

By  this  contrivance,  values  to  any  amount  may 
be  conveyed  at  any  time  and  to  any  place  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  government,  and  converted 
(in  common  parlance)  into  anything  within  the 
circle  of  exchange,  at  the  option  of  the  holder.  So 
valuable  is  this  device  that  it  has  become  a  neces- 
sity of  civilization,  and  is  monopolized  for  the  pur- 
poses of  gain.  Since  this  comes  by  the  authority  of 
the  people,  it  belongs  to  them,  and  their  right  to 
all  its  benefits  is  as  clear  as  that  to  exchange  values. 

(4.)    The  best  and  cheapest  methods  for  travel, 

transportation,  and  lines  of    communication  for 

intelligence. 

This  right  is  as  clear  as  the  necessity  for  it.  If 
people  have  the  right  to  travel  and  transport  the 
products  of  their  labor,  they  have  a  right  to  the 


SYNOPSIS.  333 

best  facilities  at  a  just  cost  for  the  service ;  and 
ihis  irai:)lies  the  right  to  control  all  modes  of  transit 
and  travel,  and  communicating  lines. 

(5.)  The  full  and  unrestricted  use  and  enjoy- 
ment of  all  tl;c  products  of  the  labor  of  each 
individual,  or  their  full  equivalent  in  other  prod- 
ucts by  equal  exchange. 

The  unequal  distribution  of  wealth  by  the 
monopoly  of  land  and  by  an  unjust  monetary  sys- 
tem is  one  of  the  direct  and  most  effective  means 
by  which  labor  is  robbed  and  the  wealth-producer 
made  dependent  on  the  landlords  and  money- 
dealers. 

(6.)  The  education  of  the  people,  and  due  prep- 
aration for  the  duties  of  life,  in  the  highest  de- 
gree of  intellectual,  moral,  assthetic,  and  spiritual 
culture;  in  the  preservation  of  health,  and  in 
the  enjoyment  of  social  and  domestic  life. 

DECLARATION. 

We  hold  that  the  above-enumerated  rights 
belong  by  divine  inheritence  to  all  men:  they 
are  therefore  sacred  ;  by  virtue  of  their  divine 
origin  they  are  inalienable  :  therefore,  the  depri- 
vation of  them  by  force  or  fraud  is  a  crime  ; 
"  that  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  in- 
stituted among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that  when- 
ever any  form  of  government  becomes  destruc- 


334  SYNOPSIS. 

tlve  of  these  ends,  it  Is  the  right  of  the  people  to 
altar  or  abolish  it,  and  to  Institute  a  new  govern- 
ment, laying  Its  foundations  on  such  principles 
and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form  as  to 
them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety 
and  happiness.  Prudence,  .indeed,  will  dictate 
that  ffovernment  lono;  established  should  not  be 
changed  for  lIo;ht  and  transient  causes  ;  and  ac- 
cordlngly,  all  experience  hath  shown  that  man- 
kind are  more  disposed  to  suffer,  while  evils  are 
sufferable,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing 
the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  But 
when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations^ 
pursuing  invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a  de- 
sign to  reduce  them  under  absolute  despotism,  it 

IS  THEIR  RIGHT,  IT  IS  THEIR  DUTY,  TO  THROW 
OFF  SUCH  GOVERNMENT  AND  TO  PROVIDE  NEW 
GUARDS  FOR  THEIR  FUTURE  SECURITY." 

TO    SECURE    AND    ENJOY    THESE    RIGHTS, 

A  radical  reconstruction  of  the  Constitution  of 
our  exlstlno-  o-overnment  is  necessary  in  abrogat- 
ing— 

I.  (1.)  All  vested  powers  whereby  public 
service  is  performed,  beyond  the  control  of  the 
people. 

Powers  vested  beyond  the  control  of  the  people 
is  a  surrender  of  their  natural  rights,  and  must  ne- 


SYNOPSIS.  335 

cessarily  prove  fatal  to  popular  government  so  long 
as  ambitious  and  designing  men  seek  such  powers 
in  order  to  exercise  them  for  their  own  aggrandize- 
ment. It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  such  is  the 
fact  in  our  government ;  it  is  only  necessary  to 
state  it. 

All  political  power  should  be  delegated,  not 
vested,  and  return  to  the  peo2)le  by  the  expiration 
of  the  term  of  office. 

By  authority  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  powers 
are  vested  beyond  control  and  exercised  by  design- 
ing men  who  liave  sought  these  opportunities  for 
self-aggrandizement;  whence  arise  the  evils  of  gov- 
ernment, and  not  from  the  natural  dislionesty  of 
men.  While  men  are  ruled  by  selfishness  and  our 
present  system  of  government  exists,  a  better  polit- 
ical condition  is  impossible ;  for  men  will  take  all 
they  seek.  The  tendency  is  towards  a  worse  con- 
dition. Reform  must  come  from  the  people  and 
through  a  reconstruction  of  the  government  in  the 
change  of  their  organic  law. 

(2.)  The  power  vested  in  public  oflScers  to 
a,ppoint  others  to  public  service  who  are  responsi- 
ble to  the  people  for  their  acts. 

The  relation  between  the  employer  and  the  em- 
ployee must  be  direct,  since  the  latter  is  always 
responsible  to  the  former. 

All  the  evils  of  our  civil  service  have  arisen  by 
the  abuse  of  power  in  those  who  aim  to  please  their 
patron,  rather  than  the  people  whom  they  are  re- 
quired to  serve. 

(3.)  All  powers  and  rights  vested  in  individ- 
uals in  a  corporate  capacity,  for  individual  enter- 
prise. 


336  SYNOPSIS. 

The  title  of  nobility  and  "  bill  of  attainder  "  are 
prohibited  in  the  Constitution  of  tlie  United  States, 
but  the  power  for  evil  thus  sought  to  be  averted 
is  more  than  supplied  by  the  power  in  our  govern- 
ment to  charter  coriDorations.  By  means  of  these, 
capital  is  aggregated  and  associated,  by  means  of 
which  powers  are  created  that  have  grown  to  such 
an  extent  that  all  the  departments  of  the  govern- 
ment have  succumbed  to  their  baleful  influeoce. 
They  have  consolidated  and  made  common  cause 
against  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  wealth-pro- 
ducers and  wage-earners,  and  thus  the  wealth  of 
the  nation  is  largely  in  the  possession  and  con- 
trol of  a  very  small  number  of  its  citizens.  This 
state  of  affairs  is  absolutely  incompatible  with  pop- 
ular government ;  class  distinctions  are  built  up, 
which  render  equality  of  citizenship  impossible. 

(4.)  The  senatorial  department  in  all  legisla- 
tive bodies. 

The  excuse  for  this  department  in  the  federal 
legislature  is,  that  the  States  must  be  equally  rep- 
resented in  the  national  legislature.  There  is  no 
interest  that  can  affect  one  State  more  than  another, 
since  their  interests  are  identical  throughout.  The 
national  sovereignty  is  to  be  preserved  and  main- 
tained, and  all  the  States  are  alike  interested  in 
that.  Since  they  are  the  equal  members  of  one 
body,  what  affects  one  would  affect  the  others  in 
the  same  way.  Measures  for  defense,  for  revenue, 
for  the  election  of  federal  officers,  foreign  relations, 
issue  of  a  circulating  medium,  regulation  of  weights 
and  measures,  postal  and  other  public  service,  In- 
dian affairs,  etc.,  concern  one  State  as  much  as  an- 
other; and  as  all  the  States  are  represented  in  the 
popular  branch,  the  aristocratic  branch  has  no  right 


SYNOPSIS.  337 

or  excuse  to  exist.     State  Senates  do  not  have  even 
this  excuse, 

(5.)  Our  entire  judiciary  system,  wherein 
justice  is  ignored,  immoralities  and  crimes  are 
encouraged  and  instigated,  as  misrepresentation, 
falsehood,  fraudulent  transactions,  forgery,  per- 
j-iry,  and  subornation,  provoked  by  the  strife  of 
contending  litigants,  and  the  cupidity  of  attor- 
neys who  resort  to  quibbles,  technicalities,  com- 
plications in  pleading,  looseness  and  license  in 
the  construction  and  interpretation  of  law,  delays 
and  appeals,  by  which  villainy  is  rewarded,  and 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  honest  citizens  are 
defrauded  and  ruined ;  and  a  vast  army  of  non- 
producers  lives  in  wealth  and  luxury  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  wealth-producers ;  being  a  class  of 
disciplined  and  skilled  experts,  trained  in  the 
specialties  and  intricacies  of  a  subtle  craft,  who 
provoke  and  encourage  litigation,  sell  their  ser- 
vices to  known  and  notorious  criminals,  and 
greedy,  unscrupulous  corporations  in  their 
schemes  of  robbery  and  plunder  by  legislative 
means,  and  through  the  instrumentalities  of  the 
courts  of  law. 

The  abrogation  of  this  department  of  our  gov- 
ernment would  remove  a  vast  burden  from  the  peo- 
ple in  the  way  of  expense,  and  a  fearful  source  of 
corruption  and  crime  and  a  baleful  influence  on  the 
morals  of  the  community.  The  tendency  to  the  com- 
15 


338  SYNOPSIS.      " 

mission  of  crime  is  increased  by  the  well-known 
fact  that  any  one  who  can  command  money  enjoys 
immunities  denied  to  others. 

II.  The  second  measui-e  essential  in  the  sup- 
port of  popular  gavernment  is  the  repeal  of  all 
existing  laws  of- — 

(1.)    Land    tenures  by  which  thousands  and 

and  even  millions  of  acres  of  land  are  held   and 

controlled  by  single  individuals  and  corporations, 

and  used  by  means  of  wage-labor,  or  for  rent,  or 

held    for   speculation  for    the    accumulation   of 

wealth. 

By  the  power  vested  in  Congress  by  the  Federal 
Constitution  in  disposing  of  the  public  domain, 
an  area  of  land  equal  to  fourteen  States  of  the 
Union  has  been  granted  to  railway  corjDorations. 
Foreign  capitalists  have  purchased  for  a  mere  nom- 
inal price  millions  of  acres  from  which  they  expect 
to  realize  immense  profits  at  the  expense  of  their 
fellow-men.  By  these  vested  powers — in  Congress 
for  the  disposal  of  the  public  domain  in  vast  tracts 
and  the  power  permitting  the  grant  of  charters  to 
corporations — the  people  have  been  robbed  of  this 
vast  amount  of  land,  sufficient  to  subsist  a  popula- 
tion of  thirty  millions,  already  held  by  them.  At 
the  same  time,  millions  of  American  citizens  are 
homeless  and  struggling  in  hopeless  poverty.  With 
the  horrors  of  Irish  tenantry  as  an  example,  we 
still  persist  in  tolerating  a  like  system  with  only  a 
feeble  protest. 

(2.)  By  which  the  national  finances  are  con- 
trolled  for  private  gain  ;    banking    corporations 


SYNOPSIS.  339 

conducted  in  the  issue  of  their  jn-ivate  notes  as  a 
circulating  medium,  demanding  interest  on  their 
own  debts,  and  receiving  it  on  the  capital  they 
invest,  and  on  deposits,  which  is  other  peoples' 
money ;  and  by  which  a  national  debt  has  been 
created,  and  from  which  a  vast  income  is  realized 
to  the  holders  of  government  bonds. 

By  these  laws,  the  volume  of  the  circulating  me- 
dium is  controlled  in  the  interests  of  the  money 
power  and  manipulated  by  the  government  at  their 
command. 

Laws  are  now  in  force  by  which  the  banks  are 
able  to  lend  more  than  double  their  capital  of  other 
people's  money,  besides  drawing  interest  on  about 
$400,000,000  of  United  States  bonds.  In  other 
Avords,  the  actual  use  of  money  by  the  national 
banks,  as  compared  with  their  capital,  is  multiplied  • 
twice  in  loans  on  deposits,  eight-tenths  times  in 
United  Stafes  bonds,  and  one-half  times  in  loans  of 
their  own  money,  increasing  their  actual  working 
capital  threefold  and  thirty  per  cent  over;  and 
this  too,  independent  of  their  resources,  surplus, 
real  estate,  and  other  property.  While  the  people 
are  compelled  to  iKiy  interest  on  what  they  owe, 
banking  corporations  receive  interest  on  their  debts. 
While  the  people  cannot  borrow  on  half  of  their 
capital,  the  banking  corporations  can  loan  on  more 
than  three  times  their  working  capital,  and  get  in- 
terest on  all  their  loans. 

By  laws  now  existing,  bonds  greatly  below  par 
were  purchased  with  money  purposely  depreciated. 
Tliese  bonds  were  made  solvent  by  the  solemn 
pledge  of  the  government,  by  becoming  a  part  of 
the    Constitution,    and   then   greatly    enhanced   in 


340  SYNOPSIS. 

value  by  declaring  them  payable  in  coin,  or  its 
equivalent;  and  by  the  demonetization  of  silver 
they  were  further  increased  in  value,  until  they 
command  a  premium  of  from  10  to  25  per  cent 
above  gold  coin.  And  all  this  increase  in  the  value 
of  the  people's  debt  without  aay  benefit  whatever 
to  the  people  themselves,  which  means  taking  that 
much  from  labor. 

(3.)  By  which  individuals  and  corporations 
have  been  given  the  ownership,  control,  and 
operation  of  lines  for  ti'avel,  transportation,  and 
communication  of  intelligence,  and  all  the  bene- 
fits of  the  same. 

Railways  have  been  declared  public  highways  by 
the  highest  authority  of  the  government  and  the 
right  of  the  States  to  control  them.  "  I  hold,"  says 
Judge  Black,  "  that  a  railroad  charter  without  a 
reasonable  limit  to  charge  is  void.  The  road  is  not 
a  public  highway  if  the  managers  charge  just  v/hat 

they  please To  say  the  State  cannot  save  the 

peoj)le  from  such  extortion  and  fraud  is  to  utter  a 
preposterous  absurdity.  By  the  right  of  eminent 
domain  the  State  always  has  the  power  to  abate  a 
monopoly."  And  yet  the  corporations  continue  to 
defy  the  courts  when  their  decisions  are  averse  to 
their  interests,  and  employ  means  to  secure  im- 
munities and  privileges  by  the  courts- 
Judge  Black  continues:  "Mr.  Gowen  [President 
of  the  Eeading  Railroad  Company]  says  the  rail- 
roads liave  gr^at  power  with  the  courts.  I  don't 
know  how  that  is,  but  really  they  are  weak  and 
jDOwerless  in  any  issue  that  brings  them  before 
the  people.  For  every  millionaire,  they  have 
made  a  thousand  paupers ;  for  every  one  they  have 


SYNOPSIS.  341 

done  a  favor  to,  they  have  cheated  ten  thousand  ; 
and  these  are  the  things  that  will  be  remembered  in 
a  popular  issue." 

The  telegraph  system,  which  now  extends  over 
more  than  one  hundred  thousand  miles  of  line, 
yields  a  net  revenue  of  over  $6,000,000  a  year.  By 
it  the  intelligence  of  the  country  is  monopolized,  and 
all  under  the  control  of  one  man !  The  evils  of 
this  may  in  some  degree  be  perceived,  when  it  is 
considered  that  such  intelligence  is  so  raodilied  by 
falsehood  and  suppression  of  facts,  that  the  true 
uses  for  which  it  was  designed  have  been  perverted, 
and  it  proves  an  evil  instead  of  a  benefit. 

C4.)  For  levying  duties  on  imported  commodi- 
ties, whereby  a  burden,  ostensibly  for  revenue,  is 
laid  on  labor  instead  of  on  the  property  of  the 
people,  and  whereby  the  greater  part  of  the 
tax  thus  levied  goes  to  further  enrich  already 
wealthy  corporations  at  the  expense  of  labor. 

In  the  early  period  of  our  national  existence,  a 
need  was  felt  to  foster  and  encourage  the  manufac- 
turing interests  of  the  country.  This  was  before 
corporations  were  created  and  while  universal  in- 
terest was  felt  in  national  prosperity.  At  that 
time  labor-saving  machinery  was  in  its  infancy 
and  the  profits  on  capital  were  small.  The  duty 
levied  was  to  be  added  to  the  price  of  manufac- 
tured commodities,  with  the  intention  of  enabling 
the  employer  to  increase  the  wages  of  his  em- 
ployees, and  thus  stimulate  the  industries  of  the 
nation. 

Besides,  the  duties  collected  on  foreign  imports 
would  serve  as  a  revenue  for  the  general  govern- 


842  SYNOPSIS. 

ment.  Thus  a  convenient  means  for  obtaining  a 
revenue  would  be  added  to  the  aid  and  encourage- 
ment in  the  manufacturing  industries  of  the  coun- 
try. 

The  introduction  of  Labor-saving  machinery  has 
rendered  in  a  great  measure  the  capitalist  indepen- 
dent of  manual  labor ;  and  the  result  is  a  material 
lessening  in  the  demand  for  it ;  the  aggregation  of 
capital  by  corporate  power  increasing  their  means 
for  utilizing  machinery  in  the  production  of  wealth, 
together  with  the  continued  immigration  of  the 
labor  element,  while  shutting  out  foreign  manufac- 
tures, have  enabled  the  home  manufactuers  to  con- 
trol the  labor  element,  and  reduce  it  to  absolute 
dependence  on  the  capitalists,  who  exercise  entire 
control  over  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the 
country. 

Duties  are  laid  on  the  most  common  necessaries 
of  life,  and  since  the  great  mass  of  consumers  con- 
stitute the  laboring  element,  the  greater  burden 
falls  on  them  ;  and  since  the  tax  thus  levied  is 
added  in  marking  the  price,  it  goes  to  the  manu- 
facturer. The  poor  and  miserable  condition  of 
wage-laborers  and  their  continued  strikes  for 
higher  wages  corroborate  the  statement  above 
made.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  tariff  laws,  however 
just  and  needful  in  the  early  existence  of  our  gov- 
ernment, are  means  now  to  enrich  capitalists  at  the 
expense  of  the  toilers  of  the  land. 

AND    SUBSTITUTING 

For  such  abrogated  powers,  by  constitutional 
and  legislative  provisions — 

(1.)  The  election  of  all  public  officers  directly 
by  the  citizens. 


SYNOPSIS.  343 

Since  the  relation  is  direct  and  the  responsibility 
of  officers  is  due  to  the  people,  their  selection  and 
appointment  should  be  direct. 

(2.)  A  system  by  which  the  choice  of  the 
people  can  be  expressed  in  the  selection  of  can- 
didates for  office. 

The  convention  system  has  serious  and  fatal  de- 
fects. Conventions  are  managed  and  manipulated  by 
party  bosses  and  corporation  tools  in  the  interest  of 
their  masters,  and  the  people  are  compelled  to  ac- 
cept what  they  consider  a  less  evil  to  avoid  a 
greater.  The  selection  of  candidates  is  governed 
by  their  disposition  and  means  to  serve  the  man- 
agers and  the  party  selecting  them,  couj^led  with 
their  availability — that  is,  the  power  they  have  to 
hoodwink  the  people  and  secure  their  votes. 

(3.)  A  method-  by  which  proportional  repre- 
sentation can  be  secured. 

In  a  sovereign  jurisdiction,  in  which  but  one 
officer  for  the  discharge  of  a  prescribed  duty  is  re- 
quired, he  is  to  be  elected  by  a  majority  of  the 
votes  cast  in  that  jurisdiction ;  but  in  the  case  of  a 
number  for  the  performance  of  a  common  duty,  as 
boards  of  supervisors  or  a  legislature,  it  is  just  to 
provide  for  a  method  by  which  all  parties  can  be 
represented.  To  illustrate  :  a  county  has,  say,  3,000 
voters,  of  which  1,300  are  Democrats,  1,100  Repub- 
licans, and  600  Independents,  Say  there  are  five 
supervisors  to  be  elected.  Dividing  the  3,000  by 
5  gives  a  quotient  of  600.  Let  600  elect  a  can- 
didate, a  little  more  or  less.  The  Democrats  would 
see  that  by  this  rule  they  could  elect  but  two,  and 
would  concentrate  their  numerical  strength  on  any 


344  SYNOPSIS. 

two  they  might  select.  The  Republicans  would  do 
the  same,  and  the  Independents  would  unite  on  one 
candidate.  The  result  would  be  the  election  of 
two  in  the  nearly  balanced  parties,  and  one  Inde- 
pendent, and  all  would  be  proportionally  repre- 
sented. As  no  one  should  be  deprived  of  his  rights 
because  he  is  in  the  minority,  he  is  entitled  to  repre- 
sentation when  no  otiiers'  rights  are  injured. 

Of  course,  this  method  would  necessitate  the  ob- 
literation of  all  district  lines  w^ithin  the  jurisdiction, 
and  that  would  be  proper,  because  the  duties  of  the 
office  are  the  same  in  all.  In  state  and  national 
offices  these  principles  would  apply.  As  the  law 
now  is,  in  the  case  of  the  election  of  supervisors 
above  supposed,  the  1,300  Democrats  would  elect 
the  whole  live,  and  the  1,700  other  voters  would 
have  no  representation.  The  disparity  would  in- 
crease as  the  number  of  parties  increased. 

(4.)  The  free  exercise  of  the  elective  of  fran- 
chise by  all  citizens,  without  regard  to  sex. 

For  the  last  thirty  years,  the  subject  of  female 
suffrage  has  been  under  discussion.  The  progress 
made  toward  its  consummation  is  cljeering  and 
gratifying  ;  and  the  day  cannot  be  far  distant  when 
sex  will  be  no  barrier  to  tlie  exercise  of  a  right 
which  will  be  doubled  in  value  to  all :  not  by  dou- 
bling its  power  by  numbers,  but  by  the  quality  of 
virtue  it  will  impart  to  the  ballot. 

Wrongs  which  shock  the  sensitive  mind,  pollute 
the  social  circle,  and  force  their  way  into  the  sa- 
cred precincts  of  home,  corrupt  public  morals, 
impoverish,  degrade,  and  debase  mankind,  and 
sustained  by  the  ballots  of  men,  would  be  swept 
out  of  existence,  could  the  intelligent  and  virtuous 
will  of  woman   be   enforced   by  her  ballot.     The 


SYxopsis.  345 

moral  atmosphere  would  be  purified^  and  with  its 
purification  would  disappear  drunkenness,  debauch- 
ery, and  a  long  list  of  crimes  that  disgrace  manhood, 
enfeeble  the  race,  and  threaten  a  relapse  into  bar- 
barism. 

Whenever  woman's  political  power  has  been  ex- 
ened,  a  marked  improvement  has  resulted,  and  the 
nation  only  waits  the  full  exercise  of  her  natural 
ri<fhts  to  realize   the  full   fruition  of  the  nation's 

(5.)  For  local  government  in  local  affairs,  and 
for  the  exercise  of  sovereignty  in  the  county, 
state,  and  nation. 

The  people  are  sovereign  by  virtue  of  their  nat- 
ural rights,  and  the  necessity  of  their  full  exercise 
in  the  enjoyment  uf  "life,  liberty,  and  the  j^ursuit 
of  happiness."  The  exercise  of  sovereign  powers 
in  the  capacity  of  county  government  will  not  con- 
flict with  that  of  state;  neither  will  the  exercise  of 
state  sovereignty  conflict  with  that  of  national, 
because  the  functions  of  each  do  not  conflict  with 
any  others.  County  government  is  organized  for 
certain  specific  purposes,  and  functions  prescribed 
for  their  performance  cannot  interfere  with  those 
of  the  state.  The  state  is  organized  with  certain 
prescribed  functions;  they  cannot  be  performed  by 
a  county  or  a  nation.  Likewise,  a  national  govern- 
ment is  instituted  for  purposes  that  cannot  be  ac- 
complished by  a  state  government.-  Hence  we 
liave  distinct  sovereignties,  which  are  supreme  in 
their  respective  spheres. 

(6.)    For  revenue,  local,  state,    and  national, 
by  direct  tax  on  the  property  of  the  people. 
15* 


846  SYNOPSIS!. 

The  abolition  of  the  tariff  ejstem  would  relieve 
the  people  of  a  heavy  burden,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
political  corruption  it  engenders.  Direct  tax  on 
the  j^roj^erty  of  the  people  would  equaliz*  the  bur- 
den of  revenue.  For  national  purposes,  a  tax  of 
one-half  of  one  per  cent,  say  on  an  assessment  of 
$30,000,000,000,  would  yield  a  revenue  of  $150,000,- 
000;  and  this  ought  to  defray  the  yearly  expendi- 
tures of  the  Federal  Government.  Indeed,  with  the 
changes  here  advocated,  one-fifth  of  it  would  suffice. 
This  could  be  assessed  and  collected  along  with 
state  and  county  taxes,  and  segregated  as  our  state 
tax  is  from  the  county  tax,  with  only  this  addi- 
tional labor  and  expense  to  the  Federal  Government. 
The  cost  of  collecting  the  customs  duties  amounts 
to  many  millions  annually.  The  justice,  benefits, 
and  advantages  of  direct  taxation  are  so  great  and 
so  apparent,  that  it  requires  no  argument  for  their 
suj^port. 

(7.)  For  the  recall  and  discharge  from  public 
service  any  officer  when  a  majority  of  his  con- 
stituents demand  such  recall  and  discharge ;  and 
a  penalty  attached  to  the  offense  for  which  he 
was  recalled  and  discharged. 

This  provision  is  just  and  reasonable.  The  ser- 
vant agrees  and  undertakes  to  perform  a  certain 
service.  In  the  violation  of  his  agreement  he  for-^ 
feits  his  contract,  and  in  addition,  he  is  guilty  of 
treachery,  which  incurs  a  penalty. 

By  the  existing  system,  instead  of  feeling  the 
obligation  of  duty  to  his  constituents,  he  elevates 
himself  above  them,  and  too  often  sells  the  powers 
delegated  to  him  for  his  own  benefit.  The  liberty 
to  use  his  own  discretion  is  turned  into  a  license  tc 


SYNOPSIS.  Ml 

mtrigne  to  further  bis  ambitious  scbemes  and  pro- 
mote tbe  interests  of  bis  party.  Therefore,  tbe 
recall,  discbarge,  and  punishment  of  this  class  of 
offenders  are  just  and  necessary. 

(8.)  For  the  reduction  of  all  salaries  and 
compensations  for  public  services  to  the  scale  of 
the  natural  ability  of  such  person  holding  public 
office  to  produce  wealth  by  his  labor. 

The  high  salaries  of  office  are  among  the  most 
prolific  sources  of  corruption  that  disgrace  our 
political  system.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  person 
should  receive  more  compensation  for  serving  the 
people  than  for  serving  himself.  His  labor  yiyo- 
duces  a  certain  value  for  whomever  performed. 
The  strifes  for  high  salaries  engender  and  intensify 
party  spirit,  which  too  often  flames  into  passion  ; 
then  reason  flees,  and  the  wily  jaolitician  succeeds 
in  his  schemes  of  personal  aggrandizement,  or  in 
serving  his  master. 

Those  who  now  seek  office  for  the  pay  that  is  in 
it  would  give  way  to  honest  men  who  are  actuated 
by  a  desire  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  fellow- 
men,  if  no  magnet  in  the  shape  of  big  salaries  did 
nor  exist  to  attract  him  there.  Such  reduction 
would  tend  to  the  purity  of  the  ballot  more  than 
any  other  one  cause. 

(9.)  For  the  establishment  of  a  system  of 
arbitration,  by  which  all  causes  at  issue  and  con- 
troversies between  ihdividuals  shall  be  adjusted 
in  accordance  with  the  promptings  of  natural  jus- 
tice and  upon  the  particular  merits  of  each 
individual  case  ;  the  apprehension,  trial,  and  dis- 


348  SYNOPSIS. 

position  of  criminals ;  and  for  the  adjustment  of 
disjiutes  and  issues  wherein  a  citizen  is  a  party 
and  the  county,  state,  or  nation  the  contestant ; 
a  county  with  another  county,  a  state,  or  the 
nation  ;  or  a  state  with  another  or  the  nation — are 
respectively  the  parties  in  issue. 

The  abrogation  of  our  existing  judiciary  system 
necessitates  the  adoption  of  a  method  of  adjudica- 
tion that  will  secure  justice  to  all  parties.  The  ad- 
vantages of  a  system  as  here  indicated  secure  it 
from  the  evils  of  our  present  judiciary.  First,  it 
has  for  its  aim  justice,  while  the  courts  only  aim 
at  the  administration  of  law.  Second,  it  tends  to 
peace  and  harmony  among  the  people,  while  the 
courts  of  law  encourage  dishonesty  and  crime  in 
creating  or  supj^ressing  testiuiony  when  the  case 
urgently  demands  it.  Third,  it  settles  at  once  and 
forever  the  matter  in  dispute  on  its  own  merits, 
therefore  requires  no  law  save  that  of  justice,  no 
interpretation  of  former  decisions,  because  it  rests 
upon  its  own  merits,  while  in  courts  of  law  the 
temptation  for  quibbles  and  pretenses,  dodges  and 
delays,  is  so  strong  that  yielding  to  them  is  the 
common  custom.  Fourth,  it  is  simple,  cheap,  and 
easy,  while  the  courts  of  law  are  so  intricate,  com- 
plicated, and  difficult  that  a  class  of  skilled  experts 
have  to  be  employed  who  demand  as  their  compen- 
sation for  their  service  such  exorbitant  fees  that  they 
are  enabled  to  live  in  wealth  and  luxury  at  the  ex- 
pense of  their  clients.  Fifth,  it  would  dispense  with 
a  large  and  influential  class  of  men  whose  interests 
and  aims  are  in  perpetuating  existing  conditions, 
by  which  swindling  and  robbery  are  carried  on  in 
the  name  of    and  through   the  instrumentality  of 


SYNOPSIS.  349 

law.  This  class  of  men,  skilled  in  the  intricacies 
and  subtleties  of  an  exclusive  craft,  are  the  conven- 
ient and  efficient  agents  of  a  government  of  organ- 
ized greed,  of  which  the  wage-earner  and  wealth- 
producer  are  the  victims.  In  the  name  of  the 
public  good  and  by  its  authority,  they  enact  and 
enforce  laws  for  the  benefit  of  the  few,  by  which 
robbery  is  legalized,  powers  belonging  to  the  people 
are  usurped,  and  labor  enslaved.  All  the  legisla- 
tion in  the  world,  supported  by  the  decision  of 
every  court  in  existence,  cannot  make  a  wrong  right. 

(10.)  For  owning,  controlling,  and  operating 
all  public  highways  and  lines  of  communication 
by  water,  as  railroads,  canals,  navigable  streams, 
lakes  and  coasts  ;  and  all  means  for  the  transmis- 
sion of  intelligence,  as  postal  routes,  telegraphs, 
and  telephones,  by  the  government. 

The  rapid  advancement  of  the  railroad  corpora- 
tions, anid  their  consolidation  into  a  system  for 
mutual  advantage  and  defense,  excites  alike  the 
surprise  and  alarm  of  all  who  desire  the  welfare  of 
their  country  and  humanity.  A  railroad  is  a  per- 
manent thing,  and  becomes  a  geograi^hical  feature 
of  the  country,  and  materially  affects  the  value  of 
land  by  the  faciilities  it  affords  for  the  markets  and 
travel,  like  that  of  a  navigable  stream.  Postal 
routes,  public  schools,  sanitary  regulations,  and 
means  for  defense  and  administration  of  the  law 
are  owned,  controlled,  supported,  and  operated  by 
government  means.  The  adoption  by  the  govern- 
ment of  all  lines  of  travel,  transporation,  and  intel- 
ligence would  comi^lete  the  category,  and  secure  to 
all  the   equal   benefits   derived  from  these  enter- 


350  SYNOPSIS. 

prises.  The  corporations  that  now  control  them, 
and  by  which  millions  upon  millions  are  unjustly 
taken  to  enrich  the  corporators,  would  be  changed 
into  a  co-operative  system  in  which  all  would  be 
equal  beneficiaries;  for,  as  has  been  stated,  the 
very  purposes  for  which  popular  government  is  in- 
stituted are  the  regulation  of  natural  rights,  and 
the  protection  of  the  citizens  in  their  full  and  free 
exercise,  and  the  security  of  all  in  equal  opj^ortuni- 
ties. 

The  absorption  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
necessarily  defeats  the  purposes  of  the  people  in 
their  attempts  to  establish  free  government;  for 
freedom  depends  on  equality ;  and  equality  cannot 
exist  when  wealth  is  accumulated  in  few  hands; 
for  upon  it  class  distinctions  are  built  up ;  the  few 
become  rulers,  and  the  many  their  dupes  and 
slaves. 

By  controlling  the  lines  for  the  transmission  of 
intelligence  by  private  corporations,  free  and  truth- 
ful communication  is  prevented,  and  false  state- 
ments are  published  and  true  ones  supj^ressed.  In 
this  way,  false  notions  and  errors  are  propa- 
gated, and  reform  seriously  retarded.  Public  con- 
trol of  lines  for  intelligence  would  remove  this 
barrier  to  reform — a  necessary  condition  in  the  work 
of  reconstruction. 

(11.)  For  the  occupation  and  use  of  the  pub- 
lic domain  by  the  citizens  of  the  government, 
and  the  adoption  of  measures  for  the  restoration 
of  all  lands  granted  to  corporations  and  obtained 
by  individuals  now  unoccupied  and  held  for  rent 
or  speculation,  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  peo- 
ple. 


SYNOPSIS.  351 

The  necessity  of  this  measure  is  apparent  when 
it  is  considfrecl  that  land  is  the  source  and  support 
of  life ;  and  he  who  holds  it  holds  and  controls  the 
lives  of  those  who  are  dependent  uj^on  it.  Land 
being  a  fixed  quantity,  its  value  increases  as  popu- 
lation increases ;  and  as  life  is  dependent  on  it,  the 
power  of  the  holder  over  others  increases  with  the 
increase  of  its  value. 

The  conditions  upon  which  a  greater  portion  of 
the  jiublic  lands  were  granted  have  not  been  ful- 
filled, and  should  revert  to  the  public  domain  ; 
the  reversion  has  been  hedged  in  by  a  resolution  of 
Congress  to  the  effect  that  no  grant,  however 
palpable  the  fact  of  the  non-fulfillment  of  its  con- 
ditions by  the  grantee,  it  cannot  revert  to  the  gov- 
ernment without  a  declai'ation  of  such  non-fulfill- 
ment by  the  joint  action  of  Congress.  Millions  of 
acres  are  thus  withheld  from  occupancy  and  use  in 
which  not  a  move  has  been  made  to  perform  the 
conditions  of  the  grant,  and  the  time  specified  in 
the  chai'ter  expired  yeai's  ago,  in  which  the  condi- 
tions were  to  be  fulfilled,  and  still  awaiting  the 
action  of  Congress. 

It  has  been  the  policy  of  the  government  until 
recently  to  prohibit  the  right  of  aliens  to  hold  land, 
but  of  late,  tlie  title  to  millions  of  acres  has  been 
granted  to  foreign  lords  and  dukes,  who  will  occu- 
py them  with  English  tenantry,  and  thus  extend 
English  rule  upon  American  soil. 

(12.)  For  an  efficient  system  of  education,  by 
which  all  tlie  people  shall  be  duly  and  thoroughly 
qualified  for  all  their  duties,  public  and  private, 
and  for  the  exercise  of  all  their  rights  and 
privileges. 


352  SYNOPSIS. 

The  condition  of  a  people  is  determined  by  the 
status  of  their  education,  politically,  socially,  and 
financially.  The  educational  agencies  that  deter- 
mine the  status  of  a  2:)eople  are  far  more  numerous 
and  potent  than  those  prescribed  in  the  ordinary 
school  curriculum.  By  the  scramble  for  wealth, 
selfishness  is  developed,  and  selfishness  is  the  great 
drawback  to  individual  advancement.  The  pursuit 
of  wealth,  as  the  aim  and  object  of  life,  is  vitiating 
and  degrading ;  the  production  of  wealth  as  a 
means  of  life  is  laudable  and  necessary  :  vitiating 
because  it  develops  selfishness ;  degrading  because 
it  engendei'S  a  lust  for  power  and  dominion  which 
characterize  the  tyrant,  or  contracts  its  unfortunate 
owner  to  that  of  a  miser.  Besides,  its  successful 
accumulation  deprives  others  who  need  a  portion 
of  it  of  its  proj^er  use.  The  accumulation  of 
wealth  by  unequal  exchange  is  robbery ;  in  other 
words,  to  take  without  giving  an  equal  value  by 
fraud  is  swindling;  by  force,  is  robbery  ;  neither  of 
which  would  be  possible  if  the  people  were  j^roperly 
educated.  Tlie  use  of  wealth  now  employed  is  to 
accumulate  more  wealth,  to  exercise  control  over 
others,  and  to  serve  as  the  basis  of  American  aris- 
tocracy. The  true  use  of  wealth,  aside  from  ade- 
quate subsistence,  is  in  the  development  of  all  the 
powers  and  faculties  of  the  individual.  It  is  the 
culture  and  rounding  out,  the  refinement  and  har- 
monious relation,  of  all  the  attributes  of  the  being 
to  the  full  capacity  of  each. 

The  intellect  observes,  conceives,  reasons,  ar- 
ranges, and  classifies  knowledge ;  the  moral  powers 
deal  in  social  relations  based  upon  the  require- 
ments of  justice  and  the  regulation  of  domestic 
affairs;  the  cesthetic  relates  to  the  beautiful  in 
nature  and  art — scenery,  flowers,  sculjDture,  paint- 


J 


STNOPSis.  353 

ings,  music.  These  elevate,  purify,  refine,  and 
l^olisli,  and  add  greatly  to  the  pleasures  and  enjoy- 
ments of  life.  The  spiritual  has  reference  to  the 
interior  life,  and  relation  to  the  life  after  death. 
All  blend  and  unite  in  each  properly  educated  and 
cultured  individual.  Thus  the  purposes  of  life  are 
fully  accomplished,  and  each  passes  on  to  his  just 
reward. 

In  view  of  the  blessings  arising  from  the  exercise 
of  our  natural  rights  in  the  enjoyment  of  j^ersonal 
liberty  in  all  the  means  of  life,  the  free  use  of  God's 
gifts  to  man,  and  the  inherent  capacity  of  man  for 
unfoldment  in  his  intellectual  powers,  whereby  the 
secrets  of  nature  are  unveiled  and  her  forces 
evolved  and  applied  for  his  benefit,  and  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  i^olitical  rights  in  devising  measures  for 
the  advancement  of  industry,  commerce,  and  edu- 
cation, Ave  deem  it  necessary,  in  order  to  realize 
these  blessings,  to  labor  for  their  realization,  fully 
convinced  that  if  we  would  be  free,  we  must  take 
the  work  of  reform  in  our  own  hands,  and  forever 
relinqiiish  the  hope  of  refoi'mation  from  the  politi- 
cal forces  now  in  existence. 

We  contemplate  these  things  in  the  ideal  with 
the  vague  hope  that  sometime  and  in  some  way 
they  may  be  real.  History  and  experience  teach  us 
that  blessings  come  to  those  who  take  them,  who 
provide  for  them  by  the  means  appointed  by  a  wise 
providence.  They  will  never  come  to  those  who 
wait  for  them.  The  poet  sings  of  the  noble,  heroic 
deeds  of  our  forefathers;  the  orator  in  glowing 
terms  recounts  their  struggles,  their  suffering,  and 
their  sacrifices  ;  we  wave  banners  and  fire  cannon 
in  celebration  of  their  deeds,  but  do  nothing  for 
ourselves.  They  did  their  duty  well :  let  us  do 
ours;  for  we  have  a  duty  to  perform,  not  upon  the 


ooi  SYNOPSIS. 

battle-field,  nor  in  the  council-chamber.     The  work 
is  in  brains,  illumination,  and  heart  purification. 

"  We  li-^e  in  deeds,  not  years.    We  should  count 
Time  by  heart-throbs,  not  by  figures 
On  the  dial-plate.    He  lives  most 
Who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest, 
Acts  the  best." 

Their  work  was  to  break  the  bonds  imposed  by- 
royal  prerogative  and  '■'  vested "  rights  :  ours  to 
preserve  the  liberty  thus  gained  ;  they  put  the  bal- 
lot in  our  hands,  and  charged  us  with  the  power  of 
self-protection  by  its  judicious  use.  Rejoicing  in 
the  liberty  thei/  won,  we  forget  that  it  is  in  the 
USE  of  the  ballot,  not  its  possession^  that  our  liber- 
ties are  to  be  preserved.  They  gave  us  the  example, 
the  lesson :  it  is  for  us  to  profit  by  the  one  and 
learn  from  the  other.  To  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their 
labor,  we  must  labor  likewise.  We  must  think  as 
they  did ;  we  must  feel  as  they  did ;  we  must 
value  our  liberties  as  they  did  theirs :  and  then  we 
will  do  as  they  did.  Tlie  enemy  they  fought  was 
clothed  with  kingly  authority;  ours,  in  corporate 
power :  the  one  is  vested  by  a  long  line  of  inheri- 
tance, the  other  is  a  usurpation  of  natural  rights ; 
the  one  is  essential  to  monarchical  government, 
the  other  destructive  to  a  true  republic. 


r 


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